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LIBRARY 


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Durham,  N.  C. 


THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA 


BY  DR.  HUDSON. 


THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 

12mo . $1.50 

A  SCIENTIFIC  DEMONSTRATION  OF  THE 

FUTURE  LIFE.  t2mo  .  .  l.SO 

THE  DIVINE  PEDIGREE  OF  MAN.  t2mo.  l.SO 


A.  C.  McCLURG  &  CO. 
CHICAGO. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2018  with  funding  from 
Duke  University  Libraries 


https  ;//archive.org/details/lawofpsychicphen01huds_1 


THE  LAW 


OF 

PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA 


^  SEorking  5^2i)otl3csts 

FOR  THE 

SYSTEMATIC  STUDY  OF  HYPNOTISM, 
SPIRITISM,  MENTAL  THERA¬ 
PEUTICS.  Etc. 


BY 

THOMSON  JAY  HUDSON,  Ph.D.,  LL.D. 

AUTHOR  OF  “  A  SCIENTIFIC  DEMONSTRATION  OF  THE  FUTURE  LIFE,” 
“the  DIVINE  PEDIGREE  OF  MAN,”  ETC. 


TWENTY-THIRD  EDITION 


CHICAGO 
A.  C.  McCLURG  &  CO. 
1901 


Copyright 

By  a.  C.  McClurg  and  Co. 
A.D.  1893 


3  J t  " 

S'  S'  4 


TO  THE 

fijonorable  3L£stcr  E.  BonU, 


THE  COMPANION  OF  MY  YOUTH,  THE  STEADFAST  FRIEND  OF 
MY  MANHOOD,  MY  MENTOR  ALWAYS, 

THIS  VOLUME  IS  AFFECTIONATELY  DEDICATED  BY 


THE  AUTHOR. 


I 


PREFACE. 


IDO  not  expect  this  book  to  stand  upon  its  literary  merits ;  for 
if  it  is  unsound  in  principle,  felicity  of  diction  cannot  save 
it,  and  if  sound,  homeliness  of  expression  cannot  destroy  it. 
My  primary  object  in  offering  it  to  the  public  is  to  assist  in 
bringing  Psychology  within  the  domain  of  the  exact  sciences. 
That  this  has  never  been  accomplished  is  owing  to  the  fact 
that  no  successful  attempt  has  been  made  to  formulate  a  work- 
ing  hypothesis  sufficiently  comprehensive  to  embrace  all  psychic 
phenomena.  It  has,  however,  long  been  felt  by  the  ablest 
thinkers  of  our  time  that  all  psychic  manifestations  of  the 
liuman  intellect,  normal  or  abnormal,  whether  designated  by  the 
name  of  mesmerism,  hypnotism,  somnambulism,  trance,  spirit¬ 
ism,  demonology,  miracle,  mental  therapeutics,  genius,  or  in¬ 
sanity,  are  in  some  way  related ;  and  consequently,  that  they 
are  to  be  referred  to  some  general  principle  or  law,  which,  once 
understood,  will  simplify  and  correlate  the  whole  subject-matter, 
and  possibly  remove  it  from  the  domain  of  the  supernatural. 
The  London  Society  for  Psychical  Research,  whose  ramifica¬ 
tions  extend  all  over  the  civilized  world,  was  organized  for  the 
purpose  of  making  a  systematic  search  for  that  law.  The 
Society  numbers  among  its  membership  many  of  the  ablest 
scientists  now  living.  Its  methods  of  investigation  are  purely 
scientific,  and  painstaking  to  the  last  degree,  and  its  field  em¬ 
braces  all  psychic  phenomena.  It  has  already  accumulated 
and  verified  a  vast  array  of  facts  of  the  most  transcendent 
interest  and  importance.  In  the  mean  time  a  large  number  of 
the  ablest  scientists  of  Europe  and  America  have  been  pursuing 
independent  investigations  in  the  phenomena  of  hypnotism. 
They  too  have  accumulated  facts  and  discovered  principles  of 
vast  importance,  especially  in  the  field  of  mental  therapeutics, — 
principles  which  also  throw  a  flood  of  light  upon  the  general 
subject  of  Psychology. 


VI 


PREFACE. 


This  vast  array  of  facts,  thus  accumulated  and  verified,  and 
awaiting  scientific  classification  and  analysis,  would  seem  to 
justify  at  least  a  tentative  effort  to  apply  to  them  the  processes 
of  induction,  to  the  end  that  the  fundamental  law  of  psychic 
phenomena  may  be  discovered. 

In  the  following  pages  I  have  attempted  such  a  classification 
of  verified  phenomena,  accounts  of  which  I  find  in  the  literature 
current  on  the  subject ;  and  I  have  tentatively  formulated  a 
working  hypothesis  for  the  systematic  study  of  all  classes  of 
psychic  phenomena.  It  will  be  observed  that  I  have  availed  my¬ 
self  largely  of  the  labors  of  others,  instead  of  confining  myself 
to  experimental  researches  of  my  own.  I  have  done  this  for  two 
reasons  :  first,  that  I  might  avoid  the  accusation  of  having  con¬ 
ducted  a  series  of  experiments  for  the  purpose  of  sustaining  a 
pet  theory  of  my  own;  and  second,  because  I  hold  that  sub¬ 
stantial  progress  cannot  be  made  in  science  until  one  is  ready 
to  accord  due  credit  to  human  integrity,  and  to  give  due  weight 
to  human  testimony. 

In  conclusion,  I  desire  to  say  that  I  claim  no  credit  for  this 
work,  save  that  which  is  due  to  an  honest  desire  to  promote  the 
truth  for  its  own  sake.  Sincerely  believing  in  the  correctness 
of  my  hypothesis,  I  have  not  hesitated  to  follow  it  to  its  legiti¬ 
mate  conclusion  in  every  field  which  I  have  entered.  If  at  the 
close  of  the  book  I  have  seemed  to  trespass  upon  the  forbidden 
field  of  theological  discussion,  it  was  not  for  the  purpose  of 
sustaining  any  preconceived  opinions  of  my  own;  far  from  it. 
It  was  because  I  was  irresistibly  led  to  my  conclusions  by  the 
terms  of  my  hypothesis  and  the  inflexible  logic  of  its  appli¬ 
cation.  I  cannot  but  be  aware  that  my  conclusions  some¬ 
times  oppose  the  preconceived  opinions  of  others.  But  no 
one  who  accepts  my  hypothesis  as  the  true  one  will  be  compelled 
more  frequently  than  I  have  been  to  renounce  his  former 
convictions. 

T.  J.  H. 


Washington,  D.  C. 

October  21,  1892. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

INTRODUCroRY. 

Page 

Necessity  of  a  Working  Hypothesis.  —  The  Newtonian  Hypo¬ 
thesis. —  The  Atomic  Theory.  —  A  Psychological  Hypothe¬ 
sis  necessary. —  Theories  of  Hypnotism  and  Mesmerism. — 
Spiritism.  —  Mental  Therapeutics.  —  Liebault’s  Law  of  Sug¬ 
gestion. —  Duality  of  Mind.  —  A  Working  Hypothesis  for 
Psychology  formulated.  —  Its  Three  Terms . 19 

CHAPTER  II. 

DUALITY  AND  SUGGESTION. 

The  Doctrine  of  the  Trinity  of  Man. — The  Greek  Philosophy. 

—  The  Early  Christian  Fathers. — Hermetic  Philosophy. — 
Swedenborg. —  Duality  in  Modern  Philosophy.  —  “Objective” 
and  “Subjective”  Minds. — Their  Distinctive  Differences 
and  Modes  of  Operation.  —  The  Subjective  Mind  a  Distinct 
Entity.  —  Illustrations  from  Hypnotism.  —  Suggestion.  — 
Auto-Suggestion.  —  Universality  of  the  Law  of  Suggestion  .  27 


CHAPTER  III. 

REASONING  POWERS  OF  THE  TWO  MINDS  DIFFERENTIATED. 

The  Subjective  Mind  incapable  of  Inductive  Reasoning.  —  Its 
Processes  always  Deductive,  or  Syllogistic.  —  Its  Premises 
the  Result  of  Suggestion.  —  Illustrations  by  Hypnotism.  — 
Hypnotic  Interview  with  Socrates.  —  Reasons  from  an  As¬ 
sumed  Major  Premise.  —  Interview  with  a  Philosophic  Pig. — 

The  Pig  affirms  the  Doctrine  of  Reincarnation.  —  Dogma¬ 
tism  of  Subjective  Intelligence.  —  Incapable  of  Controversial 
Argument.  —  Persistency  in  following  a  Suggested  Line  of 
Thought . . . 33 


vin 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

PERECr  MEMORY  OF  THE  SUBJECTIVE  MIND. 

I 

Confirmed  by  Hypnotic  Phenomena.  —  Opinions  of  Psycholo¬ 
gists. —  Sir  William  Hamilton’s  Views.  —  Observations  of 
Dr.  Rush.  —  Talent  for  Poetry  and  Music  developed  by 
Abnormal  Conditions.  —  Talent  for  Drawing  evolved  by 
Madness.  —  Resuscitation  of  Knowledge  in  the  Insane. — 
E.vtraordinary  Feats  of  Memory  during  Illness. —  A  Forgotten 
Language  recovered.  —  Whole  Pages  of  Greek  and  Hebrew 
remembered  by  an  Illiterate  Servant  Girl. —  Speaking  in 
Unknown  Tongues  explained.  —  The  Result  of  the  Opera¬ 
tions  of  Natural  Law  . 


CHAPTER  V. 

SUBJECITVE  MEMORY  {contmued). 

Practical  Illustrations.  —  Reasons  for  Limitations  of  Subjective 
Power.  —  Its  Practical  Significance.  —  Its  Application  to  the 
Solution  of  Problems  of  Insanity.  —  The  Mental  Pheno¬ 
mena  of  “Genius.” — Napoleon  Bonaparte.  —  Shakspeare. — 
Poets.  —  Artists.  —  Macaulay’s  Estimate  of  Poets  and  Poetry. 

—  Dangers  of  Subjective  Control.  —  Lord  Byron.  —  Socrates’ 
Estimate  of  Poets.  —  His  Recognition  of  the  Subjective 
Element  in  Poetic  Composition.  —  Occasional  Inconveniences. 

—  Unconscious  Plagiarism  —  Observations  of  Holmes. — 
Improvisation.  —  Solution  of  the  Shakspeare-Bacon  Problem. 

—  The  Subjective  in  Art.  —  Madness  in  Art. — Great  Orators. 

—  W ebster.  —  Clay.  —  Patrick  Henry.  —  Incidents.  —  Practi¬ 
cal  Conclusions . 


CHAPTER  VI. 

PERCEPTION  OF  THE  FIXED  LAWS  OF  NATURE. 

Three  Sub-Classes  of  Mental  Phenomena.  —  Mathematical 
Prodigies.  —  Musical  Prodigies.  —  Measurement  of  Time. — 
Distinction  between  Results  of  Objective  Education  and 
Intuitive  Perception.  —  Zerah  Colburn,  the  Mathematical 
Prodigy.  —  The  Lightning  Calculator.  —  Blind  Tom,  the 
Musical  Prodigy.  —  The  Origin  and  Uses  of  Music.  —  East 
Indian  Fakirs.  —  Measurement  of  Time.  —  The  Power  pos¬ 
sessed  by  Animals.  —  Illustrative  Incidents.  —  Hypnotic 
Subjects.  —  Jouffroy’s  Testimony.  —  Bernheim’s  Views. — 
Practical  Observations. — The  Normal  Functions  of  Objec- 


CONTENTS. 


IX 


Page 

live  Intelligence.  —  The  Limitations  of  Subjective  Intelli¬ 
gence  pertains  to  its  Earthly  State  only.  —  Its  Kinship  to 
God  demonstrated  by  its  Limitations.  —  Omniscience  cannot 
reason  inductively.  —  Induction  is  Inquiry.  —  Perception  the 
Attribute  of  Omniscience.  —  Conclusions  regarding  the 
Power  of  the  Soul . 62 


CHAPTER  VII. 

EFFECTS  OF  ADVERSE  SUGGESTION. 

The  Subjective  Mind  incapable  of  Controversial  Argument. — 

A  Sceptical  Audience  demoralizes  it.  —  The  Presence  of  an 
Avowed  Sceptic  prevents  Successful  Exhibition  of  Subjec¬ 
tive  Phenomena.  —  Labouchere  and  Bishop.  —  The  Royal 
Academy  of  Medicine. —  Its  Offer  to  Clairvoyants.  —  P'ailure 
to  earn  Reward.  —  Harmonious  Conditions  required  by 
Spiritists.  —  The  Seybert  Commission.  —  Trance-speaking 
Mediums.  —  How  demoralized.  —  Adverse  Suggestion  the 
Cause  of  Failure  in  all  Cases.  —  Possible  Lack  of  Telepathic 
Conditions  in  Bishop’s  Case.  —  General  Conclusions.  —  Fail¬ 
ure  Consistent  with  Honesty  of  Mediums . 75 


CHAPTER  VHI. 

HYPNOTISM  AND  MESMERISM. 

Warfare  of  the  Schools.  —  History  of  the  Science.  —  Mesmer’s 
Career.  —  The  Academicians.  —  The  Successors  of  Mesmer. 

—  The  Royal  Academy  of  Medicine.  —  Its  Idiotic  Prejudices. 

—  Dr.  Braid’s  Discovery.  —  Re-baptism  of  the  Science. — 
Effects  of  Braid’s  Discoveries.  —  Liebault’s  Theory  of  Sug¬ 
gestion. —  The  Nancy  School  and  the  Paris  School  compared. 

—  The  Pluidic  Theory.  —  The  Law  of  Suggestion  the  Great¬ 
est  Discovery  in  Psychic  Science.  —  The  Significance  of 
Braid’s  Discoveries  not  appreciated.  —  Hypnotism  of  Animals. 

—  The  Charcot  School.  —  The  Sources  of  its  Errors. — 
Reform  in  Terminology  suggested. — The  Mesmeric  Theory. 

—  Braid’s  Processes  not  productive  of  Higher  Phenomena. — 
Mesmerization  of  Animals. —  Recapitulation  of  Points  .  .  8t 

CHAPTER  IX. 

HYPNOTISM  AND  MESMERISM  {continued')  . 

Mesmeric  Methods.  —  The  Fluidic  Theory.  —  Influence  of  the 
Mind  of  the  Operator.  —  The  Early  Mesmerists.  —  Their 


X 


CO.XTEJVTS. 


Page 

Methods  and  their  Effects.  —  Decadence  of  the  Higher  Phe¬ 
nomena  under  Braid’s  Methods.  —  The  Causes  e.xplained. — 
Telepathic  Powers  developed  by  Mesmerism. —  Mesmerism 
as  a  Therapeutic  Agent.  —  Method  of  Operation  recom¬ 
mended.  —  How  to  acquire  the  Power.  —  The  Necessary 
Conditions  of  Success.  —  Will-Power  e.xplained.  —  The 
Fluidic  Theory  requires  Revision.  —  Distinction  between 
Mesmerism  and  Hypnotism  sharply  drawn.  —  Mesmerization 
of  Animals  distinguished  from  the  Plypnotization  of  Animals. 

—  Methods  employed  in  each.  —  Tamers  of  Horses  and  Wild 
Beasts.  —  Dog-Trainers.  —  Primitive  Man.  —  His  Powers. — 

His  Immunity  from  Harm.  —  Daniel.  —  The  Adepts.  —  Gen¬ 
eral  Conclusions . 105 


CHAPTER  X. 

HYPNOTISM  AND  CRIME. 

Platform  Experiments  misleading.  —  Their  Utter  Inutility  as  a 
Test.  —  So-called  “Tests”  described  and  explained.— Sex¬ 
ual  Outrages  impossible.  —  Auto-Suggestion  protects  the 
Virtuous.  —  A  Willing  Subject  necessary.  —  Demonstrative 
Experiments.  —  Modern  Authorities  cited  against  Them¬ 
selves. —  Professor  Gregory's  Views.  —  The  Elevated  Moral 
Tone  of  Subjects  when  mesmerized.  —  Successful  Sugges¬ 
tion  of  Suicide  impossible. —  The  Three  Normal  Functions  of 
the  Subjective  Mind.  —  Self-Preservation.  —  Propagation. — 
Preservation  of  Offspring.  —  Instinctive  Auto-Suggestion.  — 
Indifference  on  Near  Approach  of  Death.  —  A  Universal  Law. 

—  Illustrative  Incidents.  —  Suggestive  Criminal  Abortion 
impossible. —  Premonitions  explained. — The  Dremon  of 
Socrates.  —  Clairaudience.  —  The  Instinct  of  Death.  —  Hyp¬ 
notism  in  Jurisprudence.  —  Testimony  valueless. — -Vital 
Secrets  impossible  to  obtain.  —  Doctors  must  not  monopolize 
the  Forces  of  Nature.  —  The  Folly  of  Adverse  Legislation  .  122 

CHAPTER  XI. 

PSYCHO-THER.4PEUTICS. 

Historical  Notes.  —  Mind  Cure  in  Ancient  Times.  —  Bible  Ac¬ 
counts. —  Miracles  of  the  Church.  —  Healing  by  the  King’s 
Touch.  —  Views  of  Paracelsus  and  Pomponazzi.  —  Bernheim’s 
Experiments.  —  The  Modern  Schools.  —  Their  Theories. — 

The  True  Hypothesis  applicable  to  All  Systems. — Illustrations 
of  the  Theory.  —  Producing  a  Blister  by  Suggestion. — Bloody 
Stigmata.  —  Letters  of  Blood.  —  Objective  Control  of  Sub- 


CONTENTS. 


XI 


Page 

jective  Mind.  —  Subjective  Control  of  Bodily  Functions. — 

The  Necessary  Mental  Conditions.  —  The  Precepts  and 
Example  of  Christ.  —  Subjective  Faith  alone  required. — 
Discussion  of  Various  Systems.  —  Christian  Science,  etc. — 
General  Conclusions . i44 


CHAFFER  XII. 

PSYCHO-THKRAPEUTICS  {continued) . 

Methods  cla.ssified  in  Two  Divisions.  —  Mental  and  Oral  Sug¬ 
gestions.  —  AIjsent  Treatment.  —  Christian  Scientists  handi¬ 
capped  by  Absurd  Theories. —  They  claim  too  much.  —  The 
Use  of  Drugs.  —  Dangersarising  from  too  Radical  Change. 

—  Importance  of  Favorable  Mental  Environment.  —  Mental 
Healing  requires  Mental  Conditions. — Treatment  by  Hyp¬ 
notism. —  Bernheim’s  Methods.  —  Illustrative  Cases.  —  The 
Practical  Value  of  the  System.  —  The  Illogical  Limitations 
of  the  Theory.  —  Potency  of  Telepathic  Suggestion.  —  Re¬ 
searches  of  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research. —  Mr. 
Gurney’s  Experiments.  —  They  demonstrate  the  Theory  of 
Effluent  Emanations.  —  Diagnosis  by  Intuition.  —  Potency 
of  Mesmerism.  —  Permanency  of  Cures.  —  Conditions  neces¬ 
sary.  —  The  Example  of  Jesus.  —  .Self-Healing  by  Auto- 
Suggestion  . i6i 


CHAPTER  XHI. 

A  NEW  SY.STEM  OF  MENTAL  THERAPEUTICS. 

Telepathy  the  Normal  Means  of  Communication  between  Sub¬ 
jective  Minds.  —  Perfect  Passivity  required  for  Therapeu¬ 
tic  Suggestions.  —  Natural  Sleep  the  Most  Perfect  .State  of 
Passivity.  —  Hypnotic  .Sleep  and  Natural  Sleep  identical. — 
Phenomena  of  Dreams.  —  Subjective  Mind  controllable  by 
.Suggestion  during  Natural  Sleep.  —  Illustrative  Incidents. — 
Passivity  a  Necessity  on  the  Part  of  the  Operator.  —  The 
Subjective  Mind  can  be  caused  to  convey  Telepathic  Mes¬ 
sages  during  Sleep. —  Illustrative  Experiments . 176 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

A  NEW  SY.STEM  OF  MENTAL  THERAPEUTICS  {continued) . 

Recapitulation  of  Propositions.  —  Natural  Sleep  the  Best  Con¬ 
dition  attainable  both  for  Healer  and  Patient.  —  Demonstra¬ 
tive  Experiments.  —  Healing  at  a  Distance  of  One  Thousand 


CONTENTS. 


Page 

Miles.  —  Distance  no  Obstacle. — Space  does  not  exist  for 
the  Subjective  Mind.  —  Objective  Ilabits  of  Thought  the 
only  Adverse  Factor.  —  Diseases  treated.  —  Strabismus 
cured.  —  Mode  of  Operation.  —  Not  a  Good  Money-making 
Scheme.  —  It  promotes  the  Health  of  the  Healer.  —  A 
Method  of  Universal  Utility.  —  Self-Healing  its  most  Impor¬ 
tant  Function. — The  Power  absolute.  —  Within  the  Reach 
of  All.  —  Method  of  Self-Healing. — The  Patient’s  Credulity 
not  overtaxed.  —  The  Example  of  Christ.  —  Material  Reme¬ 
dies  not  to  be  ignored.  —  Advice  to  Christian  Scientists. — 

The  Control  of  Dreams.  —  Practical  Conclusions . 191 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE  PHENOMENA  OF  SPIRITISM. 

[f  a  Man  die,  shall  he  live  again  ?  —  The  Problem  not  solved 
by  Spiritistic  Phenomena.  —  The  Phenomena  admitted. — 
Their  Supernatural  Origin  denied.  —  Explained  by  the  Hypo¬ 
thesis. —  Subsidiary  Hypothesis.  —  An  Intelligent  Dynamic 
Force.  —  Its  Characteristics.  —  Limited  by  Medium’s  Intelli¬ 
gence. —  It  is  controlled  by  Suggestion. —  Phenomena  fail 
in  Presence  of  Scepticism.  —  Reasons.  —  Mediumistic  Frauds. 

—  The  Primary  Lesson  in  Spiritistic  Investigation.  — Mediums 
not  necessarily  dishonest.  —  Their  Honest  Belief  in  the 
Phenomena.  —  Suggestion  explains  all.  —  Illustrations  from 
Hypnotism.  —  Convincing  Character  of  Alleged  Communica¬ 
tions. —  Telepathic  Explanations.  —  General  Conclusions  .  .  205 


CH.APTER  XVL 

THE  PHENOMENA  OF  SPIRITISM  {continued') . 

Various  Classes  of  Phenomena.  —  Clairvoyance.  —  Its  Field  not 
yet  clearly  defined.  —  Telepathy  invades  its  Ancient  Do¬ 
main. —  Simple  Experiments  in  Telepathy.  —  Their  Signifi¬ 
cance. —  Telepathic  Power  in  Mediums. — Telepathic  Visions. 

—  A  Typical  Seance.  —  Wonderful  Exhibition  of  Telepathic 
Power.  —  An  Affecting  Interview  of  the  Sitter  with  Himself. 

—  Deductions. — Visions  of  Inanimate  Things  as  well  as  of 

Deceased  Persons.  —  Spirit  of  the  Jack  of  Clubs.  —  Subjec¬ 
tive  Memory.  —  Spirit  Identity.  —  Allan  Kardec’s  Observa¬ 
tions.  —  His  Illogical  Conclusions.  —  His  Supreme  Test.  — 
Telepathic  Explanation.  —  Four  Ways  of  explaining  his  Test 
Case . 


2ig 


CONTENTS. 


xiii 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE  PHENOMENA  OF  SPIRITISM  {continued') . 

Pach 

Psychometry.  —  “The  Souls  of  Things.” — Professor  Denton’s 
Experiments.  —  Wonderful  Visions  of  the  Ancient  Environ¬ 
ment  of  Geological  Specimens.  —  A  Piece  of  Mortar  from 
Cicero’s  House.  —  Supposed  Scientific  Tests.  —  Pixplanation 
on  Telepathic  Principles.  —  Experiments  in  Hypnotism  com¬ 
pared.  —  Clairvoyance  and  Telepathy.  —  Their  Boundary 
Lines  in  Transit.  —  Clairaudience.  —  Definitions  of  the  Term. 

—  Socrates  and  his  Daemon.  —  Modern  Instances.  —  Men¬ 
tal  Impressions.  —  Premonitions.  —  Their  Unreliability. — 
Remarkable  Examples  of  Clairaudience.  —  A  Lawyer’s  Ex¬ 
perience. —  Subject  to  the  Law  of  Suggestion.  —  Insanity 
sometimes  results  from  Ignorance  of  the  Cause.  —  Practical 
Suggestions . 238 


CHAPTER  XVIH. 

THE  PHENOMENA  OF  SPIRITISM  {continued). 

The  Planchette.  —  Modifications.  —  Easily  operated.  —  Auto¬ 
matic  Writing.  —  Governed  by  the  Universal  Law.  —  The 
Planchette  without  Spirits.  —  The  Planchette  and  Telepathy. 

—  Trance. — Ancient  and  Modern  Superstitions  relating  to 
Trance. —  Religious  Systems  founded  on  Trance. —  Visions. — 
Swedenborg.  —  Oriental  Philosophy.  —  Its  Slow  Growth  and 
Stupendous  Proportions.  —  Spiritistic  Philosophy.  —  Its  Evo¬ 
lution. —  All  founded  on  Trance  Visions,  in  Ignorance  of  the 
Law  of  Suggestion.  —  Cahagnet’s  Mesmeric  Seers.  —  Their 
Revelations. — Objective  and  Subjective  Visions.  —  Orthodoxy 
and  Heterodoxy. — Visions  of  the  Holy  Virgin. — The  Physical 
and  Mental  Attitude  of  Prayer. — The  Prayer  of  Faith. — 
Obsession.  —  Possession.  —  Casting  out  Devils.  —  Devils  out 
of  Fashion.  —  The  Influence  of  Suggestion.  —  The  Element 
of  Telepathy.  —  Dual  Personality.  —  Loss  of  Identity.  — 
Characteristics.  —  The  Case  of  Ansel  Bourne.  —  Possible 
Explanation.  — A  Proof  of  the  Dual  Hypothesis.  —  Multiple 
Personality . 251 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE  PHYSICAL  PHENOMENA  OF  SPIRITISM. 


The  Intelligence  manifested.  —  It  is  a  Human  Intelligence. — 
Inherent  Probabilities.  —  Conditions  requisite.  —  The  Best 


XIV 


CONTENTS. 


Page 

Conditions.  —  A  Living  Organism  necessary.  —  The  Laws 
of  Telepathy  and  Suggestion  prevail.  —  Slate-Writing. — 

A  Wonderful  Slate- Writing  Seance. —  Telepathic  and  Psycho- 
Physical  Power  displayed  in  Perfection.  —  Demonstration  of 
its  Mundane  Origin.  —  An  Unexpected  Phenomenon.  —  Sum¬ 
mary  of  Results.  —  Syllogism.  —  General  Conclusions.  — 
Spiritistic  Phenomena  do  not  constitute  Valid  Evidence  of  a 
Life  beyond  the  Grave.  —  An  Argument  for  Immortality  .  .  271 


CHAPTER  XX. 

PHANTASMS  OF  THE  DEAD. 

Ghosts.  —  Scientific  Investigations.  —  Tentative  Classification  of 
Phenomena.  —  Power  to  create  Phantasms  demonstrated.  — 
Investigations  of  the  London  Society  for  Psychical  Re¬ 
search. —  Spirit  Photography.  —  Projection  of  the  “Astral 
Body.”  —  Witches.  —  Conditions  necessary. —  The  same  in 
all  Cases.  —  Spirit  “  Materialization.” —  Magicians.  —  Ghosts 
the  Creations  of  the  Subjective  Entity.  —  Eliphas  Levi’s 
Views.  —  Raising  the  Devil.  —  Crystal  Visions.  —  Proposi¬ 
tions  established.  —  Embodied  Thoughts.  —  Phantasms  not 
Spirits.  —  Uniform  Characteristics.  —  A  New  Classification. 

—  Conditions  of  Objectivity  and  Persistency.  —  Haunted 
Houses.  —  No  General  Intelligence  manifested.  —  D’Assier’s 
Statements.  —  A  Remarkable  Case.  —  Ghosts  Intensified 
Telepathic  Visions.  —  Difference  in  Degree,  not  in  Kind.  — 
Ghosts  not  controllable  by  Suggestion.  —  Other  Salient  Pecu¬ 
liarities.  —  Ghosts  neither  prove  nor  disprove  Immortality. — 
Mental  Atmosphere  of  Houses.  —  Remarkable  Cases.  — 
Classification  of  Telepathic  Phenomena.  —  Conclusions  .  .  286 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

SUSPENDED  ANIMATION  AND  PREMATURE  BURIAL. 


Facts  of  Startling  Import.  —  The  Case  of  Washington  Irving 
Bishop.  —  Other  Instances  of  Suspended  Animation. — Vam¬ 
pirism. —  Catalepsy.  —  East  Indian  Fakirs  buried  alive  for 
Months.  —  Fundamental  Errors. —  Catalepsy  not  a  Disease. 

—  A  Recuperative  Agent.  —  The  Law  of  Suggestion  gov¬ 
erns  the  Phenomena.  —  Subjective  Insensibility  impossible. 

—  Suggestion  of  Death  deepens  the  Lethargy.  —  The  Appal¬ 
ling  Dangers  of  Catalepsy. —  The  Proper  Treatment.  .  .  .  309 


CONTENTS. 


XV 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

PRACTICAL  CONCLUSIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS. 

Pagb 

The  Normal  Relations  of  the  Objective  and  Subjective  Faculties. 

—  Their  Distinctive  Powers  and  Functions.  —  The  Infinite 
Wisdom  displayed  in  their  Distribution.  —  It  constitutes  Man 
a  Free  Moral  Agent.  —  Limitation  of  Subjective  Powers  and 
Responsibilities  in  this  Life.  —  The  Kinship  of  the  Soul  to 
God.  —  The  Limitation  of  the  Powers  of  the  Objective  Mind. 

—  The  Transcendent  Powers  of  the  Soul.  —  Errors  of  the  Old 
Philosophers.  —  The  Normal  Functions  of  the  Soul  in  Earthly 
Life. —  Dangers  of  Abnormal  Exercise  of  Subjective  Power. — 
Nervous  Disorders,  Insanity,  Imbecility,  and  Moral  Degra¬ 
dation. —  The  Importance  of  a  Knowledge  of  the  Law  of 
Suggestion.  —  Dangers  of  Mediumship.  —  Trance-Speakers. 

—  Immoral  Tendency  of  Ignorant  Mediumship.  —  Tendency 

towards  Free  Love.  —  The  Causes.  —  The  Orientalists. — 
Their  Greater  Powers,  and  their  Greater  Facilities  for  Self- 
Delusion. —  Practical  Conclusions.  —  Warnings . 321 


CHAPTER  XXHI. 

THE  PHYSICAL  RLYNIFESTATIONS  AND  PHILOSOPHY  OF  CHRIST. 

The  Great  Stumbling-Block,  Unbelief  in  the  Physical  History 
of  Christ.  —  Modern  Science  confirms  the  New  Testament. — 
Internal  Evidence  of  the  Truth  of  the  History  of  Jesus. — 

The  Scientific  Accuracy  of  His  Statements.  —  The  Exoteric 
and  the  Esoteric  Doctrines.  —  Parables.  —  Esoteric  Doctrines 
reserved  for  Modern  Science  to  discover.  —  The  Spirit  of 
Truth.  —  Jesus  the  first  to  proclaim  the  Scientific  Truth. — 

The  Doctrine  of  Faith.  —  Healing  the  Sick.  —  Natural  Law. — 
Faith  essential  then  as  now.  —  Illustrative  Incidents.  —  Jai- 
rus’  Daughter.  —  Seven  Scientific  Steps.  —  Secrecy  enjoined. 

—  Scientific  Reasons.  —  Redi.scovery  of  the  Science  of  Men¬ 
tal  Therapeutics  in  Modern  Times.  —  Nothing  discovered  that 
Jesus  did  not  know.  —  Absent  Treatment.  —  The  Power  to 
heal  transmitted  to  all  Future  Generations.  —  The  Condi¬ 
tions.  —  Conclusions . 338 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

THE  PHYSICAL  MANIFESTATIONS  OF  CHRIST  ^Continued') . 

The  Word  Faith  in  its  Application  to  Psychic  Phenomena. — 

Its  Definition.  —  An  Epitome  of  the  Law  of  Suggestion.  — 


XVI 


CONTENTS. 


Pagb 

Subjective  Faith  only  required. —  Illustrative  Incident.  —  The 
“Spoken  Word.” — Jesus  knew  the  Law,  and  always  acted 
within  its  Limitations.  —  Intuitive  Perception  of  the  Laws  of 
the  Soul.  —  His  Manhood  and  its  Limitations. — Our  War¬ 
ranty  of  Title  as  Sons  of  God.  —  Christ  constantly  controlled 
by  Reason.  —  His  Subjective  Powers  subservient.  —  The 
Three  Temptations  illustrative.  —  The  Great  Lesson  to  Man¬ 
kind. —  The  Normal  E.xercise  of  Subjective  Power.  —  Simon 
the  Sorcerer.  —  Miracle  not  a  Necessary  Explanation  of  the 
Power  of  Christ. — Conclusions . 359 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

THE  SPIRITUAL  PHILOSOPHY  OF  CHRIST. 

The  Necessity  of  Signs  and  Wonders.  —  Christ’s  Work  was  for 
All  Time.  —  His  Consummate  Wisdom. — Signs  and  Wonders 
as  Evidence.  —  His  Perception  of  Spiritual  Laws.  —  The  Per¬ 
ceptive  Powers  of  the  Soul.  —  Propositions.  —  Presumptive 
Evidence  of  His  Knowledge  of  Spiritual  Laws.  —  Condition 
precedent  to  Immortality.  —  Faith  the  Essential  Condition. — 

The  Declarations  of  Christ.  —  He  meant  just  what  He  said. — 

The  Doctrines  of  the  Church.  —  Literal  Extinction  of  the 
Soul  through  Unbelief.  —  Belief  essential  to  Salvation.  — 
Belief  will  not  avert  the  Consequences  of  Sin.  —  Inherent 
Probabilities.  —  The  Conscious  Existence  of  the  Soul.  —  The 
Law  of  Suggestion  applied.  —  Scepticism  constitutes  a  Fatal 
Suggestion.  —  Phenomena  of  Hypnotism  illustrative.  — 
Souls  of  Animals  have  no  Conscious  Existence ;  hencb 
not  Immortal.  —  Christ  as  a  Saviour  of  Souls.  —  His  Doctrine 
new  to  the  World,  but  scientifically  correct . 374 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

THE  MISSION  OF  CHRIST.  FUTURE  REWARDS  AND 
PUNISHMENTS. 

The  Success  of  Christ’s  Mission.  —  Chaotic  State  of  Spiritual 
Philosophy  in  His  Time.  — The  Various  Doctrines  in  Vogue. 

Jesus  the  first  to  simplify  the  Doctrine  of  Immortality. — 
He  gave  it  a  Definite  Status  in  Philosophy.  —  The  Doctrine 
of  Future  Rewards  and  Punishments.  —  God  will  “Render 
to  every  Man  according  to  his  Deeds.”—  Spiritual  Penalties 
for  Violations  of  Spiritual  Law.  —  The  Sin  against  the  Holy 


CONTENTS. 


XVll 


Page 

Ghost.  —  The  Sin  of  Unbelief.  —  The  Status  of  a  Lost  Soul. 

—  Possible  Reincarnation.  —  The  Means  of  Punishment  for 
Sin.  —  Affections.  —  Conscience.  —  Memory.  —  General  Con¬ 
clusions.  —  Scientific  Basis  of  Christianity . 380 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

DEDUCTIONS  FROM  VARIOUS  ATTRIBUTES  OF  THE  SOUL. 

The  Question  of  Identity.  —  Consciousness  and  Memory. — 
Identity  considered  in  Reference  to  Rewards  and  Punish¬ 
ments.  —  Conscience.  —  Conflicting  Theories  of  Psychologists. 

—  Education  and  Intuition.  —  Different  Standards  of  Moral¬ 
ity.  —  The  Soul’s  Perception  of  the  Eternal  Principles  of  Right 
and  Wrong.  —  The  Instinct  of  Worship.  —  Its  Abnormal 
Manifestations.  —  The  Law  of  Suggestion.  —  Universality  of 
the  .Sentiment  of  Worship.' — Its  Normal  Manifestations. — 
Demonstrative  of  the  lixistence  of  a  God  of  Love.  —  Old 
Arguments  invalid.  —  Socrates  and  Paley.  —  Argument  pre¬ 
dicated  on  the  Affectional  Emotions.  —  Syllogistic  Deduc¬ 
tions.  —  The  Divine  Pedigree  of  Man . 400 


THE 


Law  of  Psychic  Phenomena. 


CHAPTER  I. 


INTRODUCTORY. 


Necessity  of  a  Working  Hypothesis.  —  The  Newtonian  Hypothesi'i. 
—  The  Atomic  Tlieory.  —  A  Psychological  Hypothesis  neces¬ 
sary. —  Theories  of  Hypnotism  and  Mesmerism.  —  Spiritism. — 
Mental  Therapeutics.  —  Liebault’s  Law  of  Suggestion.  —  Duality 
of  Mind.  —  A  Working  Hypothesis  for  Psychology  formulated. — 
Its  Three  Terms. 


UBSTANTIAL  progress  in  any  science  is  impossible 


in  the  absence  of  a  working  hypothesis  which  is 
universal  in  its  application  to  the  phenomena  pertaining 
to  the  subject-matter.  Indeed,  until  such  an  hypothesis 
is  discovered  and  formulated,  no  subject  of  human  in¬ 
vestigation  can  properly  be  said  to  be  within  the  domain 
of  the  exact  sciences.  Thus,  astronomy,  previous  to  the 
promulgation  of  Kepler’s  Laws  and  the  formulation  of 
the  Newtonian  hypothesis  of  gravitation,  was  in  a  state 
of  chaos,  and  its  votaries  were  hopelessly  divided  by  con¬ 
flicting  theories.  But  the  moment  Newton  promulgated 
his  theorem  a  revolution  began  which  eventually  involved 
the  whole  scientific  world.  Astronomy  was  rescued  from 
the  domain  of  empiricism,  and  became  an  exact  science. 
What  the  Newtonian  hypothesis  did  for  astronomy,  the 
atomic  theory  has  done  for  chemistry.  It  enables  one 


20 


THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


skilled  in  that  science  to  practise  it  with  a  certainty  of  re¬ 
sults  in  exact  proportion  to  his  knowledge  of  its  principles 
and  his  skill  in  applying  them  to  the  work  in  hand.  He 
knows  that  if  he  can  combine  hydrogen  and  oxygen,  in  the 
proportion  of  two  atoms  of  the  former  to  one  of  the  latter, 
water  will  be  the  result.  He  knows  that  one  atom,  or  part, 
of  oxygen  and  one  of  carbon  combined  under  heat  will  pro¬ 
duce  carbonic  oxide, — a  poisonous  gas;  that  the  addition 
of  another  atom,  or  part,  of  oxygen  will  produce  carbonic 
anhydride  (dioxide) ,  —  a  harmless  gas  ;  and  so  on  through¬ 
out  the  vast  realm  of  chemical  combinations. 

The  fact  that  the  literal  correctness  of  a  given  hypothesis 
is  not  demonstrable  except  by  results,  in  no  wise  militates 
against  its  value  in  the  domain  to  which  it  belongs.  Indeed, 
it  would  cease  to  be  a  hypothesis  the  moment  it  were  de¬ 
monstrated.  Newton’s  theorem  is  undemonstrable  except 
from  its  results.  Its  correspondence,  however,  with  every 
known  fact,  the  facility  with  which  astronomical  calculations 
can  be  made,  and  the  precision  with  which  every  result 
can  be  predicted,  constitute  a  sufficient  demonstration  of 
its  substantial  correctness  to  inspire  the  absolute  confidence 
of  the  scientific  world.  No  one  would  hesitate  to  act  in 
the  most  important  concerns  of  life  —  nay,  to  stake  his 
very  existence  —  upon  calculations  based  upon  Newton’s 
hypothesis.  Yet  there  are  not  found  wanting  men  who  deny 
or  doubt  its  abstract  correctness.  Volumes  have  been 
written  to  disprove  it.  But  as  no  one  has  yet  discovered 
a  fact  or  witnessed  a  phenomenon  outside  of  its  domain, 
the  world  refuses  to  surrender  its  convictions.  When 
such  a  fact  is  discovered,  then,  and  not  till  then,  will 
there  arise  a  necessity  for  revising  the  “  Principia.”  It  is 
a  trite  and  true  saying  that  one  antagonistic  fact  will  de¬ 
stroy  the  value  of  the  finest  theory  ever  evolved. 

It  is  equally  impossible  to  demonstrate  the  abstract 
correctness  of  the  atomic  theory.  An  appeal  to  the 
evidence  found  in  uniform  results  is  all  that  is  possible 
to  one  who  would  give  a  reason  for  the  faith  that 
is  in  him.  No  one  ever  saw,  felt,  tasted,  or  smelled 


INTROD  UC  TOR  Y. 


21 


an  atom.  It  is  beyond  the  reach  of  the  senses  j  nor  is 
it  at  all  probable  that  science  or  skill  will  ever  be  able 
to  furnish  instrumental  aids  capable  of  enabling  man  to 
take  cognizance  of  the  ultimate  unit  of  matter.  It  exists 
for  man  only  in  hypothesis.  Nevertheless,  the  fact  remains, 
that  in  all  the  wide  range  of  human  investigation  there  is 
not  a  more  magnificent  generalization,  nor  one  more  useful 
to  mankind  in  its  practical  results,  than  the  atomic  theory. 
Yet  there  are  those  who  doubt  its  abstract  correctness, 
and  labor  to  disprove  the  existence  of  the  atom.  If  the 
ultimate  object  of  chemical  science  were  to  demonstrate 
the  existence  of  the  atom,  or  to  seize  it  and  harness  it 
to  the  uses  of  mankind,  it  might  be  worth  while  to  set 
the  chemical  fraternity  right  by  demonstrating  its  non¬ 
existence.  If  the  practice  of  chemistry  on  the  basis  of 
the  theory  were  defective  in  its  practical  results,  or  failed 
in  universal  application,  it  would  then  be  the  duty  of 
scientists  to  discard  it  entirely,  and  to  seek  a  better  work¬ 
ing  hypothesis. 

The  most  that  can  be  said  of  any  scientific  hypothesis 
is,  that  whether  true  in  the  abstract  or  not,  everything 
happens  just  as  though  it  were  true.  When  this  test  of 
universality  is  applied,  when  no  known  fact  remains  that 
is  unexplained  by  it,  the  world  is  justified  in  assuming  it 
to  be  true,  and  in  deducing  from  it  even  the  most  mo¬ 
mentous  conclusions.  If,  on  the  contrary,  there  is  one  fact 
pertaining  to  the  subject-matter  under  investigation  which 
remains  outside  the  domain  of  the  hypothesis,  or  which  is 
unexplained  by  it,  it  is  indubitable  evidence  that  the  hy¬ 
pothesis  is  unsafe,  untrue,  and  consequently  worthless  for 
all  practical  purposes  of  sound  reasoning.  Thus,  Sir  Isaac 
Newton,  after  having  formulated  his  theorem,  threw  it  aside 
as  worthless,  for  a  time,  upon  making  the  discovery  that 
the  moon,  in  its  relations  with  the  earth,  apparently  did 
not  come  within  the  terms  of  his  hypothesis.  His  calcula¬ 
tions  were  based  upon  the  then  accepted  estimate  of  the 
length  of  a  degree  of  latitude.  This  estimate  having  been 
corrected  by  the  careful  measurements  of  Picard,  Newton 


22  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PILENOMEN/t. 

revised  his  figures,  and  found  that  the  supposed  dis¬ 
crepancy  did  not  exist.  The  last  doubt  in  his  mind  having 
been  thus  set  at  rest,  he  gave  to  the  world  a  theorem 
which  rendered  possible  substantial  progress  in  astronomical 
science. 

In  the  field  of  psychological  investigation  a  satisfactory 
working  hypothesis  has  never  been  formulated.  That  is  to 
say,  no  theory  has  been  advanced  which  embraces  all 
psychological  phenomena.  Many  theories  have  been  ad¬ 
vanced,  it  is  true,  to  account  for  the  various  classes  of 
phenomena  which  have  been  observed.  Some  of  them  are 
very  plausible  and  satisfactory  —  to  their  authors  —  when 
applied  to  a  particular  class  of  facts,  but  utterly  fail  when 
confronted  with  another  class. 

Thus,  the  students  of  the  science  of  hypnotism  are,  and 
since  the  days  of  Mesmer  have  been,  hopelessly  divided 
into  schools  which  wage  war  upon  each  other’s  theories,  and 
dispute  the  correctness  of  each  other’s  observations  of  facts. 
Mesmer’s  theory  of  fluidic  emanations,  which  he  termed 
“animal  magnetism,”  seemed  to  account  for  the  facts 
which  he  observed,  and  is  still  held  to  be  substantially  true 
by  many  votaries  of  this  science.  John  Bovee  Dods’  elec¬ 
trical  theory  —  positive  lungs  and  negative  blood  —  was 
sufficiently  plausible  in  its  day  to  attract  many  followers,  as 
it  afforded  a  satisfactory  explanation  of  many  phenomena 
which  came  under  his  observation.  Braid’s  physiological 
explanation  of  certain  classes  of  the  phenomena  afforded, 
in  his  time,  much  comfort  to  those  who  believe  that  there 
is  nothing  in  man  which  cannot  be  weighed  in  a  balance  or 
carved  with  a  scalpel.  In  our  own  day  we  find  the  school 
of  the  Salpetriere,  which  holds  that  hypnotism  is  a  disease 
of  the  nervous  system,  that  its  phenomena  are  explicable 
on  physiological  principles,  that  the  suggestions  of  the  oper¬ 
ator  play  but  a  secondary  role  in  their  production,  and  that 
they  can  be  produced,  or  successfully  studied,  only  in  dis¬ 
eased  persons.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Nancy  school  of 
hypnotists  holds  that  the  science  can  be  studied  with  profit 
only  in  perfectly  healthy  persons,  and  from  a  purely  psy- 


INTRODUCTORY. 


23 


chological  standpoint,  and  that  suggestion  is  the  all-potent 
factor  in  the  production  of  all  hypnotic  phenomena.  All 
three  of  the  last-mentioned  schools  agree  in  ignoring  the 
possibility  of  producing  the  higher  phenomena  of  hypno¬ 
tism,  known  as  clairvoyance  and  thought-transference,  or 
mind- reading ;  whilst  the  earlier  hypnotists  demonstrated 
both  beyond  the  possibility  of  a  reasonable  doubt.  Indeed, 
a  committee  of  the  ablest  scientists  of  the  Royal  Academy  of 
Medicine  of  France,  after  an  investigation  extending  over 
a  period  of  six  years,  reported  that  it  had  demonstrated  the 
existence  of  such  powers  in  the  human  mind. 

Another  large  class  of  psychological  phenomena,  which 
has  been  productive  of  more  conflicting  theories  than  any 
other,  and  which  from  time  immemorial  has  puzzled  and 
appalled  mankind,  is  by  a  large  class  of  persons  referred  to 
the  direct  agency  of  the  spirits  of  the  dead.  It  would  re¬ 
quire  a  volume  to  catalogue  the  various  theories  which  have 
been  advanced  to  account  for  this  class  of  phenomena,  and 
wneii  done  it  would  serve  no  useful  purpose.  It  is  safe  to 
say,  however,  that  no  two  individuals,  whether  believers  or 
unbelievers  in  the  generic  doctrine  of  spiritism,  exactly 
agree  as  to  the  ultimate  cause  of  the  phenomena.  The  ob¬ 
vious  reason  is  that  no  two  persons  have  had  exactly  the 
same  experience,  or  have  observed  exactly  the  same  phe¬ 
nomena.  In  the  absence  of  a  working  hypothesis  appli¬ 
cable  to  all  the  infinite  variety  of  facts  observed,  it  follows 
that  each  investigator  must  draw  his  own  conclusions  from 
the  limited  field  of  his  own  experience.  And  when  we  take 
into  consideration  the  important  role  which  passion  and 
prejudice  ever  play  in  the  minds  of  men  when  the  solu¬ 
tion  of  an  undemonstrable  problem  is  attempted,  it  is  easy 
to  see  that  a  bewildering  hodge-podge  of  heterogeneous 
opinions  is  inevitable. 

Another  class  of  phenomena,  about  which  an  infinite  va¬ 
riety  of  opinions  prevails,  may  be  mentioned  under  the  gen¬ 
eral  head  of  mental  therapeutics.  Under  this  generic  title 
may  be  grouped  the  invocations  of  the  gods  by  the  Egyp¬ 
tian  priests ;  the  magic  formulas  of  the  disciples  of  Escula- 


24 


THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


plus ;  the  sympathetic  powder  of  Paracelsus ;  the  king’s 
touch  for  the  cure  of  goitre  ;  the  wonderful  cures  at  the 
tomb  of  Deacon  Paris  and  at  Lourdes ;  the  miraculous 
power  supposed  to  reside  in  the  relics  of  the  saints ;  the 
equally  miraculous  cures  of  such  men  as  Greatrakes,  of 
Gassner,  and  of  the  Abbot  Prince  of  Hohenlohe ;  and  the 
no  less  wonderful  healing  power  displayed  by  the  modern 
systems  known  as  mind  cure,  faith  cure,  Christian  science, 
animal  magnetism,  and  suggestive  therapeutics. 

One  fact,  pregnant  with  importance,  pertains  to  all  these 
systems ;  and  that  is  that  marvellous  cures  are  constantly 
effected  through  their  agencies.  To  the  casual  observer 
it  would  seem  to  be  almost  self-evident  that,  underlying 
all,  there  must  be  some  one  principle  which,  once  un¬ 
derstood,  would  show  them  to  be  identical  as  to  cause 
and  mode  of  operation.  Yet  we  find  as  many  conflicting 
theories  as  there  are  systems,  and  as  many  private  opinions 
as  there  are  individuals  who  accept  the  facts.  Some  of  the 
hypotheses  gravely  put  forth  in  books  are  so  bizarre  as  to 
excite  only  the  pity  or  the  ridicule  of  the  judicious.  One 
notable  example  is  found  in  that  system,  the  basic  theory 
of  which  is  that  matter  has  no  existence,  that  nothing  is 
real  but  mind,  and  that,  consequently,  disease  and  pain, 
suffering  and  death,  are  mere  hallucinations  of  morbid  intel¬ 
lects.  Other  theories  there  are,  which,  if  not  equally  ab¬ 
surd,  are  probably  equally  remote  from  the  truth ;  and  each 
treats  the  persons  as  well  as  the  opinions  of  the  others  with 
that  virulent  contumely  which  is  the  ever-present  resort  of 
him  who  would  force  upon  his  neighbor  the  acceptance  of 
his  own  undemonstrable  article  of  faith.  Nevertheless,  as 
before  remarked,  the  fact  remains  that  each  of  these  sys¬ 
tems  effects  some  most  wonderful  results  in  the  way  of 
curing  certain  diseases. 

What  is  true  of  the  phenomena  embraced  under  the  gen¬ 
eral  head  of  mental  therapeutics  is  also  true  of  the  whole 
range  of  psychological  phenomena ;  namely,  the  want  of  a 
working  hypothesis  which  shall  apply  to  all  the  facts  that 
have  been  observed  a.nd  authenticated. 


INTRODUCTOR  Y. 


25 


No  successful  attempt  has  heretofore  been  made  to  sup¬ 
ply  this  want;  nor  has  success  been  possible  until  within 
a  very  recent  period,  for  the  simple  reason  that  previous 
to  the  discovery  of  certain  facts  in  pyschological  science, 
the  scientific  world  was  without  the  necessary  data  from 
which  a  correct  hypothesis  could  be  formulated.  The  re¬ 
searches  of  Professor  Li^bault  in  the  domain  of  hypnotism, 
seconded  by  those  of  his  pupil.  Professor  Bernheim,  have 
resulted  in  discoveries  which  throw  a  flood  of  light  upon 
the  whole  field  of  psychological  investigation.  Their  field 
of  observation  being  confined  to  hypnotism,  and  chiefly  to 
its  employment  as  a  therapeutic  agent,  it  is  not  probable 
that  either  of  those  eminent  scientists  realized  the  transcen¬ 
dent  importance  of  their  principal  discovery,  or  perceived 
that  it  is  applicable  to  psychological  phenomena  outside  the 
domain  of  their  special  studies.  The  discovery  is  this  :  that 
hypnotic  subjects  ai-e  constantly  amenable  to  the  power  oj 
suggestion  ;  that  suggestion  is  the  all-potent  factor  in  the 
production  of  all  hypnotic  phenomena.  This  proposition 
has  been  demonstrated  to  be  true  beyond  the  possibility  of 
a  reasonable  doubt.  In  subsequent  chapters  of  this  book 
it  will  be  shown  that  this  fact  supplies  the  missing  link  in 
the  chain  of  propositions  necessary  for  a  complete  working 
hypothesis  for  the  subject  under  consideration. 

The  general  propositions  applicable  to  all  phases  of  psy¬ 
chological  phenomena  are  here  only  briefly  stated,  leaving 
the  minor,  or  subsidiary,  propositions  necessary  for  the 
elucidation  of  particular  classes  and  sub-classes  of  phe¬ 
nomena  to  be  stated  under  their  appropriate  heads. 

The  first  proposition  relates  to  the  dual  character  of 
man’s  mental  organization.  That  is  to  say,  man  has,  or 
appears  to  have,  two  minds,  each  endowed  with  separate 
and  distinct  attributes  and  powers ;  each  capable,  under 
certain  conditions,  of  independent  action.  It  should  be 
clearly  understood  at  the  outset  that  for  the  purpose  of 
arriving  at  a  correct  conclusion  it  is  a  matter  of  indifference 
whether  we  consider  that  man  is  endowed  with  two  distinct 
minds,  or  that  his  one  mind  possesses  certain  attributes  and 


26 


THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


powers  under  some  conditions,  and  certain  other  attributes 
and  powers  under  other  conditions.  It  is  sufficient  to 
know  that  everything  happens  just  as  though  he  were  en¬ 
dowed  with  a  dual  mental  organization. 

Under  the  rules  of  correct  reasoning,  therefore,  I  have  a 
right  to  assume  that  man  has  iavo  minds  ;  and  the  assump¬ 
tion  is  so  stated,  in  its  broadest  terms,  as  the  first  proposi¬ 
tion  of  my  hypothesis.  For  convenience  I  shall  designate 
the  one  as  the  objective  mind,  and  the  other  as  the  subjective 
mind.  These  terms  will  be  more  fully  explained  at  the 
proper  time. 

The  second  proposition  is,  that  the  subjective  mind  is 
constantly  amenable  to  control  by  suggestion. 

The  third,  or  subsidiary,  proposition  is,  that  the  subjeC' 
tive  mind  is  incapable  of  inductive  reasoning. 


CHAFl’ER  II. 


DUALITY  AND  SUGGESTION. 


The  Doctrine  of  the  Trinity  of  Man.  —  The  Greek  Philosophy. — 
The  Early  Christian  Fathers.  —  Hermetic  Philosophy.  —  Sweden¬ 
borg. —  Duality  in  Modern  Philosophy.  —  “Objective”  and 
“  Subjective”  Minds.  —  Their  Distinctive  Differences  and  Modes 
of  Operation.  —  The  Subjective  Mind  a  Distinct  Entity.  —  Illus¬ 
trations  from  Hypnotism.  —  Suggestion.  —  Auto-Suggestion. — 
Universality  of  the  Law  of  Suggestion. 

HE  broad  idea  that  man  is  endowed  with  a  dual  mental 


organization  is  far  from  being  new.  The  essential 
truth  of  the  proposition  has  been  recognized  by  philoso¬ 
phers  of  all  ages  and  nations  of  the  civilized  world.  That 
man  is  a  trinity,  made  up  of  “  body,  soul,  and  spirit,”  was  a 
cardinal  tenet  in  the  faith  of  many  ancient  Greek  philoso¬ 
phers,  who  thus  clearly  recognized  the  dual  character  of 
man’s  mental  or  spiritual  organization.  Plato’s  idea  of 
terrestrial  man  was  that  he  is  a  “  trinity  of  soul,  soul-body, 
and  earth-body.”  The  mystic  jargon  of  the  Hermetic 
philosophers  discloses  the  same  general  idea.  The  “  salt, 
sulphur,  and  mercury  ”  of  the  ancient  alchemists  doubtless 
refers  to  man  as  being  composed  of  a  trinity  of  elements. 
The  early  Christian  Fathers  confidently  proclaimed  the  same 
doctrine,  as  is  shown  in  the  writings  of  Clement,  Origen, 
Tatian,  and  other  early  exponents  of  Christian  doctrine. 

Indeed,  it  may  be  safely  assumed  that  the  conception  of 
this  fundamental  truth  was  more  or  less  clearly  defined  in 
the  minds  of  all  ancient  philosophers,  both  Christian  and 
pagan.  It  is  the  basis  of  their  conception  of  God  as  a 
Trinity  in  his  personality,  modes  of  existence,  and  manifes- 


28 


THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


tations,  —  a  conception  of  which  Schelling  says  :  “  The 
philosophy  of  mythology  proves  that  a  trinity  of  divine 
potentialities  is  the  root  from  which  have  grown  the  reli¬ 
gious  ideas  of  all  nations  of  any  importance  that  are  known 
to  us.” 

In  later  times,  Swedenborg,  believing  himself  to  be  di¬ 
vinely  inspired,  declared  that  “There  appertain  to  every 
man  an  internal  man,  a  rational  man,  and  an  external  man, 
which  is  properly  called  the  natural  man.”  Again,  he  tells 
us  that  there  are  three  natures,  or  degrees  of  life,  in  man, 
—  “  the  natural,  the  spiritual,  and  the  celestial.” 

Of  modern  writers  who  accept  the  dual  theory,  Professor 
Wigan,  Dr.  Brown-Sequard,  and  Professor  Proctor  are  notable 
examples.  Numerous  facts  are  cited  by  these  writers,  de¬ 
monstrating  the  broad  fact  of  duality  of  mind,  although 
their  theory  of  causation,  based  on  cerebral  anatomy,  will 
not  bear  a  moment’s  examination  in  the  light  of  the  facts  of 
hypnotic  science. 

In  more  recent  years  ^  the  doctrine  of  duality  of  mind  is 
beginning  to  be  more  clearly  defined,  and  it  may  now  be 
said  to  constitute  a  cardinal  principle  in  the  philosophy  of 
many  of  the  ablest  exponents  of  the  new  psychology. 

Thousands  of  examples  might  be  cited  to  show  that  in  all 
the  ages  the  truth  has  been  dimly  recognized  by  men  of  all 
civilized  races  and  in  all  conditions  of  life.  Indeed,  it  may 
be  safely  predicated  of  every  man  of  intelligence  and  re¬ 
finement  that  he  has  often  felt  within  himself  an  intelligence 
not  the  result  of  education,  a  perception  of  truth  indepen¬ 
dent  of  the  testimony  of  his  bodily  senses. 

It  is  natural  to  suppose  that  a  proposition,  the  substantial 
correctness  of  which  has  been  so  widely  recognized,  must 
not  only  possess  a  solid  basis  of  truth,  but  must,  if  clearly 
understood,  possess  a  veritable  significance  of  the  utmost 
importance  to  mankind. 

Hitherto,  however,  no  successful  attempt  has  been  made 

1  Since  the  above  was  written,  Du  Prel’s  able  and  interesting  work, 
entitled  “  The  Philosophy  of  Mysticism,”  has  appeared,  in  which  the 
dual  theory  is  demonstrated  beyond  question  by  reference  to  the 
phenomena  of  dreams. 


DUALITY  AND  SUGGESTION. 


29 


to  define  clearly  the  nature  of  the  two  elements  which  con¬ 
stitute  the  dual  mind ;  nor  has  the  fact  been  recognized 
that  the  two  minds  possess  distinctive  characteristics.  It  is 
a  fact,  nevertheless,  that  the  line  of  demarcation  between 
the  two  is  clearly  defined  ;  that  their  functions  are  essen¬ 
tially  unlike  ;  that  each  is  endowed  with  separate  and  dis¬ 
tinct  attributes  and  powers  ;  and  that  each  is  capable,  under 
certain  conditions  and  limitations,  of  independent  action. 

For  want  of  a  better  nomenclature,  I  shall  distinguish  the 
two  by  designating  the  one  as  objective,  and  the  other  as 
subjective.  In  doing  so  the  commonly  received  definitions 
of  the  two  words  will  be  slightly  modified  and  extended  ; 
but  inasmuch  as  they  more  nearly  express  my  exact  mean¬ 
ing  than  any  others  that  occur  to  me,  I  prefer  to  use  them 
rather  than  attempt  to  coin  new  ones. 

In  general  terms  the  difference  between  man’s  two  minds 
may  be  stated  as  follows  :  — 

The  objective  mind  takes  cognizance  of  the  objective 
world.  Its  media  of  observation  are  the  five  physical 
senses.  It  is  the  outgrowth  of  man’s  physical  necessities. 
It  is  his  guide  in  his  struggle  with  his  material  environment. 
Its  highest  function  is  that  of  reasoning. 

The  subjective  mind  takes  cognizance  of  its  environment 
by  means  independent  of  the  physical  senses.  It  perceives 
by  intuition.  It  is  the  seat  of  the  emotions,  and  the  store¬ 
house  of  memory.  It  performs  its  highest  functions  when 
the  objective  senses  are  in  abeyance.  In  a  word,  it  is  that 
intelligence  which  makes  itself  manifest  in  a  hypnotic  sub¬ 
ject  when  he  is  in  a  state  of  somnambulism. 

In  this  state  many  of  the  most  wonderful  feats  of  the 
subjective  mind  are  performed.  It  sees  without  the  use  of 
the  natural  organs  of  vision  ;  and  in  this,  as  in  many  other 
grades,  or  degrees,  of  the  hypnotic  state,  it  can  be  made, 
apparently,  to  leave  the  body,  and  travel  to  distant  lands 
and  bring  back  intelligence,  oftentimes  of  the  most  exact 
and  truthful  character.  It  also  has  the  power  to  read  the 
thoughts  of  others,  even  to  the  minutest  details ;  to  read  the 
contents  of  sealed  envelopes  and  of  closed  books.  In  short, 
it  is  the  subjective  mind  that  possesses  what  is  popularly 


30  THE  LA  IF  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMEHA. 

designated  as  clairvoyant  power,  and  the  ability  to  appre¬ 
hend  the  thoughts  of  others  without  the  aid  of  the  ordinary, 
objective  means  of  communication. 

In  point  of  fact,  that  which,  for  convenience,  I  have 
chosen  to  designate  as  the  subjective  mind,  appears  to  be  a 
separate  and  distinct  entity ;  and  the  real  distinctive  differ¬ 
ence  between  the  two  minds  seems  to  consist  in  the  fact 
that  the  “  objective  mind  ”  is  merely  the  function  of  the  phy¬ 
sical  brain,  while  the  “  subjective  mind  ”  is  a  distinct  entity, 
possessing  independent  powers  and  functions,  having  a 
mental  organization  of  its  own,  and  being  capable  of  sus¬ 
taining  an  existence  independently  of  the  body.  In  other 
words,  it  is  the  soul.  The  reader  would  do  well  to  bear 
this  distinction  clearly  in  mind  as  we  proceed. 

One  of  the  most  important,  as  well  as  one  of  the  most 
striking,  points  of  difference  between  the  two  minds,  relates 
to  the  subject  of  suggestion.  It  is  in  this  that  the  re¬ 
searches  of  the  modern  hypnotists  give  us  the  most  impor¬ 
tant  aid.  Whether  we  agree  with  the  Paris  school  in  giving 
to  suggestion  a  secondary  place  among  the  causes  of  hyp¬ 
notic  phenomena,  or  with  the  Nancy  school  in  ascribing 
all  the  phenomena  to  the  potentiality  of  suggestion,  there 
can  be  no  doubt  of  the  fact  that  when  suggestion  is  actively 
and  intelligently  employed,  it  is  always  effective.  The  fol¬ 
lowing  propositions,  therefore,  will  not  be  disputed  by  any 
intelligent  student  of  hypnotism  ;  — 

1.  That  the  objective  mind,  or,  let  us  say,  man  in  his 
normal  condition,  is  not  controllable,  against  reason,  posi¬ 
tive  knowledge,  or  the  evidence  of  his  senses,  by  the  sug¬ 
gestions  of  another. 

2.  That  the  subjective  mind,  or  man  in  the  hypnotic 
state,  is  unqualifiedly  and  constantly  amenable  to  the  power 
of  suggestion. 

That  is  to  say,  the  subjective  mind  accepts,  without 
hesitation  or  doubt,  every  statement  that  is  made  to  it, 
no  matter  how  absurd  or  incongruous  or  contrary  to  the 
objective  experience  of  the  individual.  If  a  subject  is 
told  that  he  is  a  dog,  he  will  instantly  accept  the  sugges¬ 
tion,  and,  to  the  limit  of  physical  possibility,  act  the  part 


duality  and  suggestion. 


31 


suggested.  If  he  is  told  that  he  is  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  he  will  act  the  part  with  wonderful  fidelity  to 
life.  If  he  is  told  that  he  is  in  the  presence  of  angels,  he 
will  be  profoundly  moved  to  acts  of  devotion.  If  the  pres¬ 
ence  of  devils  is  suggested,  his  terror  will  be  instant,  and 
painful  to  behold.  He  may  be  thrown  into  a  state  of 
intoxication  by  being  caused  to  drink  a  glass  of  water 
under  the  impression  that  it  is  brandy ;  or  he  may  be  re¬ 
stored  to  sobriety  by  the  administration  of  brandy,  under 
the  guise  of  an  antidote  to  drunkenness.  If  told  that  he 
is  in  a  high  fever,  his  pulse  will  become  rapid,  his  face 
flushed,  and  his  temperature  increased.  In  short,  he  may 
be  made  to  see,  hear,  feel,  smell,  or  taste  anything,  in  obe¬ 
dience  to  suggestion.  He  may  be  raised  to  the  highest 
degree  of  mental  or  physical  exaltation  by  the  same  power, 
or  be  plunged  by  it  into  the  lethargic  or  cataleptic  condition, 
simulating  death. 

These  are  fundamental  facts,  known  and  acknowledged 
by  every  student  of  the  science  of  hypnotism.  There  is 
another  principle,  however,  which  must  be  mentioned  in 
this  connection,  which  is  apparently  not  so  well  understood 
by  hypnotists  generally.  I  refer  to  the  phenomenon  of 
auto-suggestion.  Professor  Bernheim  and  others  have  rec¬ 
ognized  its  existence,  and  its  power  to  modify  the  results  of 
experiments  in  one  class  of  hypnotic  phenomena,  but  ap¬ 
parently  have  failed  to  appreciate  its  full  significance.  It 
is,  in  fact,  of  coextensive  importance  with  the  general  prin¬ 
ciple,  or  law,  of  suggestion,  and  is  an  essential  part  of  it. 
It  modifies  every  phenomenon,  and  sometimes  seems  to 
form  an  exception  to  the  general  law.  Properly  understood, 
however,  it  will  be  seen,  not  only  to  emphasize  that  law,  but 
to  harmonize  all  the  facts  which  form  apparent  exceptions 
to  it. 

The  two  minds  being  possessed  of  independent  powers 
and  functions,  it  follows  as  a  necessary  corollary  that  the 
subjective  mind  of  an  individual  is  as  amenable  to  the  con¬ 
trol  of  his  own  objective  mind  as  to  the  objective  mind  of 
another.  This  we  find  to  be  true  in  a  thousand  ways.  For 
instance,  it  is  well  known  that  a  person  cannot  be  hypno 


32 


THE  LA  JV  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


tized  against  his  will.  As  the  hypnotic  condition  is  usually 
induced  by  the  suggestion  of  the  operator,  his  failure  is  due 
to  the  contrary  auto-suggestion  of  the  subject.  Again,  if  the 
subject  submits  to  be  hypnotized,  but  resolves  beforehand 
that  he  will  not  submit  to  certain  anticipated  experiments, 
the  experiments  are  sure  to  fail.  One  of  the  finest  hypnotic 
subjects  known  to  the  writer  would  never  allow  himself  to 
be  placed  in  a  position  before  a  company  which  he  would 
shrink  from  in  his  normal  condition.  He  was  possessed  of 
a  remarkable  dignity  of  character,  and  was  highly  sensitive 
to  ridicule  ;  and  this  sensitiveness  stepped  in  to  his  defence, 
and  rendered  abortive  every  attempt  to  cause  him  to  place 
himself  in  a  ridiculous  attitude.  Again,  if  a  hypnotic  sub¬ 
ject  is  conscientiously  opposed  to  the  use  of  strong  drink, 
no  amount  of  persuasion  on  the  part  of  the  operator  can 
induce  him  to  violate  his  settled  principles.  And  so  on, 
through  all  the  varying  phases  of  hypnotic  phenomena,  auto¬ 
suggestion  plays  its  subtle  role,  often  confounding  the  oper¬ 
ator  by  resistance  where  he  expected  passive  obedience.  It 
does  not  militate  against  the  force  of  the  rule  that  sugges¬ 
tion  is  the  all-controlling  power  which  moves  the  subjective 
mind.  On  the  contrary,  it  confirms  it,  demonstrates  its 
never-failing  accuracy.  It  shows,  however,  that  the  stronger 
suggestion  must  always  prevail.  It  demonstrates,  moreover, 
that  the  hypnotic  subject  is  not  the  passive,  unreasoning, 
and  irresponsible  automaton  which  hypnotists,  ancient  and 
modern,  have  believed  him  to  be. 

As  this  is  one  of  the  most  important  branches  of  the 
whole  subject  of  psychological  phenomena,  it  will  be  more 
fully  treated  when  the  various  divisions  of  the  subject  to 
which  the  principle  is  applicable  are  reached.  In  the 
mean  time,  the  student  should  not  for  a  moment  lose  sight 
of  this  one  fundamental  fact,  that  the  subjective  mind  is 
always  amenable  to  the  power  of  suggestion  by  the  ob¬ 
jective  mind,  either  that  of  the  individual  himself,  or  that 
of  another  who  has,  for  the  time  being,  assumed  control. 


CHAPTER  III. 

REASONING  POWERS  OF  THE  TWO  MINDS  DIFFERENTIATED. 


The  .Subjective  Mind  incapable  of  Inductive  Reasoning.  —  Its  Pro¬ 
cesses  always  Deductive  or  Syllogistic  — Its  Premises  the  Result 
of  Suggestion.  —  Illustrations  by  Hypnotism.  —  Hypnotic  Inter¬ 
view  with  Socrates.  —  Reasons  from  an  Assumed  Major  Premise. 
—  Interview  with  a  Philosophic  Pig.  —  The  Pig  affirms  the  Doc¬ 
trine  of  Reincarnation.  —  Dogmatism  of  Subjective  Intelligence. — 
Incapable  of  Controversial  Argument.  —  Persistency  in  following  a 
Suggested  Line  of  Thought. 

/^NE  of  the  most  important  distinctions  between  the 
objective  and  subjective  minds  pertains  to  the  func¬ 
tion  of  reason.  That  there  is  a  radical  difference  in  their 
powers  and  methods  of  reasoning  is  a  fact  which  has  not 
been  noted  by  any  psychologist  tvho  has  written  on  the 
subject.  It  is,  nevertheless,  a  proposition  which  will  be 
readily  conceded  to  be  essentially  true  by  every  observer 
when  his  attention  is  once  called  to  it.  The  propositions 
may  be  briefly  stated  as  follows  :  — 

1.  The  objective  mind  is  capable  of  reasoning  by  all 
methods,  —  inductive  and  deductive,  analytic  and  synthetic. 

2.  The  subjective  mind  is  incapable  of  inductive  rea¬ 
soning. 

Let  it  here  be  understood  that  this  proposition  refers  to 
the  powers  and  functions  of  the  purely  subjective  mind,  as 
exhibited  in  the  mental  operations  of  persons  in  a  state  of 
profound  hypnotism,  or  trance.  The  prodigious  intellectual 
feats  of  persons  in  that  condition  have  been  a  source  of 
amazement  in  all  the  ages  ;  but  the  striking  peculiarity  noted 
above  appears  to  have  been  lost  sight  of  in  admiration  of 

3 


34 


THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


the  Other  qualities  exhibited.  In  other  words,  it  has  never 
been  noted  that  their  reasoning  is  always  deductive,  or 
syllogistic.  The  subjective  mind  never  classifies  a  series 
of  known  facts,  and  reasons  from  them  up  to  general  prin¬ 
ciples  ;  but,  given  a  general  principle  to  start  with,  it  will 
reason  deductively  from  that  down  to  all  legitimate  infer¬ 
ences,  with  a  marvellous  cogency  and  power.  Place  a  man 
of  intelligence  and  cultivation  in  the  hypnotic  state,  and 
give  him  a  premise,  say  in  the  form  of  a  statement  of  a 
general  principle  of  philosophy,  and  no  matter  what  may 
have  been  his  opinions  in  his  normal  condition,  he  will 
unhesitatingly,  in  obedience  to  the  power  of  suggestion, 
assume  the  correctness  of  the  proposition ;  and  if  given 
an  opportunity  to  discuss  the  question,  will  proceed  to  de¬ 
duce  therefrom  the  details  of  a  whole  system  of  philosophy. 
Every  conclusion  will  be  so  clearly  and  logically  deducible 
from  the  major  premise,  and  withal  so  plausible  and  con¬ 
sistent,  that  the  listener  will  almost  forget  that  the  premise 
was  assumed.  To  illustrate  ;  — 

The  writer  once  saw  Professor  Carpenter,  of  Boston,  place 
a  young  gentleman  in  the  hypnotic  state  at  a  private  gather¬ 
ing  in  the  city  of  Washington.  The  company  was  com¬ 
posed  of  highly  cultivated  ladies  and  gentlemen  of  all  shades 
of  religious  belief;  and  the  young  man  himself — who  will 
be  designated  as  C  —  was  a  cultured  gentleman,  pos¬ 
sessed  a  decided  taste  for  philosophical  studies,  and  was  a 
graduate  of  a  leading  college.  In  his  normal  condition  he 
was  liberal  in  his  views  on  religious  subjects,  and,  though 
always  unprejudiced  and  open  to  conviction,  was  a  decided 
unbeliever  in  modern  spiritism.  Knowing  his  love  of  the 
classics  and  his  familiarity  with  the  works  of  the  Greek 
philosophers,  the  professor  asked  him  how  he  should  like  to 
have  a  personal  interview  with  Socrates. 

“  I  should  esteem  it  a  great  privilege,  if  Socrates  were 
alive,”  answered  C. 

“  It  is  true  that  Socrates  is  dead,”  replied  the  professor ; 
“  but  I  can  invoke  his  spirit  and  introduce  you  to  him. 
There  he  stands  now,”  exclaimed  the  professor,  pointing 
towards  a  corner  of  the  room. 


REASONING  POWERS  OF  THE  TWO  MINDS.  35 

C  looked  in  the  direction  indicated,  and  at  once  arose, 
with  a  look  of  the  most  reverential  awe  depicted  on  his 
countenance.  The  professor  went  through  the  ceremonial 
of  a  formal  presentation,  and  C,  almost  speechless  with  em¬ 
barrassment,  bowed  with  the  most  profound  reverence,  and 
offered  the  supposed  spirit  a  chair.  Upon  being  assured 
by  the  professor  that  Socrates  was  willing  and  anxious  to 
answer  any  question  that  might  be  put  to  him,  C  at  once 
began  a  series  of  questions,  hesitatingly  and  with  evident 
embarrassment  at  first ;  but,  gathering  courage  as  he  pro¬ 
ceeded,  he  catechised  the  Greek  philosopher  for  over  two 
hours,  interpreting  the  answers  to  the  professor  as  he  re¬ 
ceived  them.  His  questions  embraced  the  whole  cosmogony 
of  the  universe  and  a  wide  range  of  spiritual  philosophy. 
They  were  remarkable  for  their  pertinency,  and  the  answers 
were  no  less  remarkable  for  their  clear-cut  and  sententious 
character,  and  were  couched  in  the  most  elegant  and  lofty 
diction,  such  as  Socrates  himself  might  be  supposed  to  em¬ 
ploy.  But  the  most  remarkable  of  all  was  the  wonderful 
system  of  spiritual  philosophy  evolved.  It  was  so  clear,  so 
plausible,  and  so  perfectly  consistent  with  itself  and  the 
known  laws  of  Nature  that  the  company  sat  spell-bound 
through  it  all,  each  one  almost  persuaded,  for  the  time 
being,  that  he  was  listening  to  a  voice  from  the  other  world. 
Indeed,  so  profound  was  the  impression  that  some  of  them 
—  not  spiritists,  but  members  of  the  Christian  Church  — 
then  and  there  announced  their  conviction  that  C  was  actu¬ 
ally  conversing  either  with  the  spirit  of  Socrates  or  with  some 
equally  high  intelligence. 

At  subsequent  gatherings  other  pretended  spirits  were 
called  up,  among  them  some  of  the  more  modern  philoso¬ 
phers,  and  one  or  two  who  could  not  be  dignified  with  that 
title.  When  a  modern  spirit  was  invoked,  the  whole  man¬ 
ner  of  C  changed.  He  was  more  at  his  ease,  and  the  con¬ 
versation  on  both  sides  assumed  a  purely  nineteenth-century 
tone.  But  the  philosophy  was  the  same ;  there  was  never 
a  lapse  or  an  inconsistency.  With  the  introduction  of  every 
new  spirit  there  was  a  decided  change  of  diction  and  char¬ 
acter  and  general  style  of  conversation,  and  each  one  was 


36  THE  LA  IV  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


always  the  same,  whenever  reintroduced.  If  the  persons 
themselves  had  been  present,  their  distinctive  peculiarities 
could  not  have  been  more  marked  ;  but  if  all  that  was  said 
could  have  been  printed  in  a  book  vcrbacim,  it  would  have 
formed  one  of  the  grandest  and  most  coherent  systems  of 
spiritual  philosophy  ever  conceived  by  the  brain  of  man, 
and  its  only  blemish  would  have  been  the  frequent  change 
of  the  style  of  diction. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  C  was  not  a  spiritist,  and 
that  the  whole  bent  of  his  mind  inclined  to  materialism. 
He  frequently  expressed  the  most  profound  astonishment  at 
the  replies  he  received.  This  was  held  to  be  an  evidence 
that  the  replies  were  not  evolved  from  his  own  inner  con¬ 
sciousness.  Indeed,  it  was  strenuously  urged  by  some  of 
the  company  present  that  he  must  have  been  talking  with 
an  independent  intelligence,  else  his  answers  would  have 
coincided  with  his  own  belief  while  in  his  normal  condition. 
The  conclusive  answer  to  that  proposition  is  this :  He  was 
in  the  subjective  state.  He  had  been  told  that  he  was  talk¬ 
ing  face  to  face  with  a  disembodied  spirit  of  superior  intel¬ 
ligence.  He  believed  the  statement  implicitly,  in  obedience 
to  the  law  of  suggestion.  He  saw,  or  thought  he  saw,  a 
disembodied  spirit.  The  inference,  for  him,  was  irresisti¬ 
ble  that  this  was  a  demonstration  of  the  truth  of  spiritism  ; 
that  being  assumed,  the  rest  followed  as  a  natural  inference. 
He  was,  then,  simply  reasoning  deductively  from  an  as¬ 
sumed  major  premise,  thrust  upon  him,  as  it  were,  by  the 
irresistible  force  of  a  positive  suggestion.  His  reasoning 
was  perfect  of  its  kind,  there  was  not  a  flaw  in  it ;  but  it 
was  purely  syllogistic,  from  general  principles  to  particular 
facts. 

It  will  doubtless  be  said  that  this  does  not  prove  that  he 
was  not  in  actual  converse  with  a  spirit.  True ;  and  if  the 
conversation  had  been  confined  to  purely  philosophical  sub¬ 
jects,  its  exalted  character  would  have  furnished  plausible 
grounds  for  a  belief  that  he  was  actually  in  communion  with 
the  inhabitants  of  a  world  where  pure  intelligence  reigns 
supreme.  But  test  questions  were  put  to  one  of  the  sup¬ 
posed  spirits,  with  a  view  of  determining  this  point.  One 


REASONING  POWERS  OF  THE  TWO  MINDS.  37 


of  them  was  asked  where  he  died.  His  reply  was,  “  In  a 
little  town  near  Boston.”  The  fact  is  that  he  had  lived 
in  a  little  town  near  Boston,  and  the  somnambulist  knew  it. 
But  he  died  in  a  foreign  land,  — a  fact  which  the  somnambu¬ 
list  did  not  know.  C  was  subsequently,  when  in  his  normal 
condition,  informed  of  the  failure  of  this  test  question,  and 
was  told  at  the  same  time  what  the  facts  were  concerning 
the  circumstances  of  the  death  of  the  gentleman  whose 
spirit  was  invoked.  He  was  amused  at  the  failure,  as  well 
as  at  the  credulity  of  those  who  had  believed  that  he  had 
been  in  conversation  with  spirits ;  but  at  a  subsequent  sit¬ 
ting  he  was  again  informed  that  the  same  spirit  was  present, 
and  he  at  once  manifested  the  most  profound  indignation 
because  of  the  deception  which  had  been  practised  upon 
him  by  the  said  spirit,  and  demanded  an  explanation  of  the 
falsehood  which  he  had  told  concerning  the  place  of  his 
death.  Then  was  exhibited  one  of  the  most  curious  phases 
of  subjective  intelligence.  The  spirit  launched  out  into  a 
philosophical  disquisition  on  the  subject  of  spirit  commu¬ 
nion,  and  defined  the  limitations  of  spiritual  intercourse 
with  the  inhabitants  of  this  earth  in  such  a  philosophical 
and  plausible  manner  that  not  only  was  the  young  man 
mollified,  but  the  spiritists  present  felt  that  they  had  scored 
a  triumph,  and  had  at  last  heard  an  authoritative  explana¬ 
tion  of  the  fact  that  spirits  are  limited  in  their  knowledge 
of  their  own  antecedents  by  that  of  the  medium  through 
whom  they  communicate. 

For  the  benefit  of  those  who  will  say  that  there  is,  after 
all,  no  proof  that  C  was  not  in  actual  communication  with  a 
superior  intelligence,  it  must  be  stated  that  at  a  subsequent 
seance  he  was  introduced  to  a  very  learned  and  very  philo¬ 
sophical  pig,  who  spoke  all  the  modern  languages  with  which 
C  was  acquainted,  and  appeared  to  know  as  much  about 
spiritual  philosophy  as  did  the  ancient  Greek.  C  had  been 
told  that  the  pig  was  a  reincarnation  of  a  Hindoo  priest 
whose  “  karma  ”  had  been  a  little  off  color,  but  who  retained 
a  perfect  recollection  of  his  former  incarnation,  and  had 
not  forgotten  his  learning.  It  is  perhaps  unnecessary  to 
say  that  the  pig  was  able  to,  and  did,  give  a  very  learned 


38  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 

and  eminently  satisfiictory  exposition  of  the  doctrine  of  re  • 
incarnation  and  of  Hindoo  philosophy  in  general.  As  C 
was  then  fresh  from  his  reading  of  some  modern  theosophi- 
cal  works,  he  was  apparently  much  gratified  to  find  that  they 
were  in  substantial  accord  with  the  views  of  the  pig. 

The  inference  to  be  drawn  from  these  facts  is  obvious  and 
irresistible  :  the  subjective  mind  of  the  young  man  accepted 
the  suggestion  of  the  operator  as  an  absolute  verity.  The 
deductions  from  the  premises  thus  given  were  evolved  from 
his  own  inner  consciousness.  But  that  he  believed  them  to 
have  been  imparted  to  him  by  a  spirit,  is  as  certain  as  that 
he  believed  that  he  saw  a  spirit. 

It  must  not  be  understood  from  the  statement  of  the  gen¬ 
eral  proposition  regarding  the  subjective  processes  of  rea¬ 
soning  that  persons  in  the  subjective  state  necessarily  go 
through  the  forms  of  syllogistic  reasoning.  On  the  contrary, 
they  seldom,  if  ever,  employ  the  forms  of  the  syllogism,  and 
it  is  rare  that  their  discourses  are  argumentative.  They 
are  generally,  in  fact,  dogmatic  to  the  last  degree.  It  never 
seems  to  occur  to  them  that  what  they  state  to  be  a  fact  can 
possibly  be,  in  the  slightest  degree,  doubtful.  A  doubt~ 
expressed  or  implied,  of  their  perfect  integrity,  of  the 
correctness  of  their  statements,  or  of  the  genuineness  of  the 
phenomena  which  is  being  exhibited  through  them,  invari¬ 
ably  results  in  confusion  and  distress  of  mind.  Hence  they 
are  incapable  of  controversial  argument,  —  a  fact  which  con¬ 
stitutes  another  important  distinction  between  the  objective 
and  subjective  minds.  To  traverse  openly  the  statements 
of  a  person  in  the  subjective  state,  is  certain  to  restore  him 
to  the  normal  condition,  often  with  a  severe  nervous  shock. 
The  explanation  of  these  facts  is  easy  to  find  in  the  constant 
amenability  of  the  subjective  mind  to  the  power  of  sugges¬ 
tion.  They  are  speaking  or  acting  from  the  standpoint  of 
one  suggestion,  and  to  controvert  it  is  to  offer  a  counter 
suggestion  which  is  equally  potent  with  the  first.  The 
result  is,  and  must  necessarily  be,  utter  confusion  of  mind 
and  nervous  excitement  on  the  part  of  the  subject.  These 
facts  have  an  important  bearing  upon  many  psychological 
phenomena,  and  will  be  adverted  to  more  at  length  in  future 


REASONING  POWERS  OF  THE  TWO  MINDS.  39 

chapters,  my  present  purpose  being  merely  to  impress  upon 
the  reader’s  mind  the  general  principles  governing  subjective 
mental  phenomena. 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  foregoing  that  when  it  is  stated 
that  the  subjective  mind  reasons  deductively,  the  results  of 
its  reasoning  processes  are  referred  to  rather  than  its  forms. 
That  IS  to  say,  whilst  it  may  not  employ  the  forms  of  the  syllo¬ 
gism,  its  conclusions  are  syllogistically  correct,  —  are  logically 
deducible  from  the  premises  imparted  to  it  by  suggestion. 
'I'his  peculiarity  seems  to  arise  from,  or  to  be  the  necessary 
result  of,  the  persistency  with  which  the  subjective  mind  will 
follow  every  idea  suggested.  It  is  well  known  to  hypnotists 
that  when  an  idea  is  suggested  to  a  subject,  no  matter  of  how 
trivial  a  character,  he  will  persist  in  following  that  idea  to  its 
ultimate  conclusion,  or  until  the  operator  releases  him  from 
the  impression.  For  instance,  if  a  hypnotist  suggests  to 
one  of  his  subjects  that  his  back  itches,  to  another  that  his 
nose  bleeds,  to  another  that  he  is  a  marble  statue,  to  another 
that  he  is  an  animal,  etc.,  each  one  will  follow  out  the  line 
of  his  particular  impression,  regardless  of  the  presence  of 
others,  and  totally  oblivious  to  all  his  surroundings  which  do 
not  pertain  to  his  idea ;  and  he  will  persist  in  doing  so  until 
the  impression  is  removed  by  the  same  power  by  which  it 
was  created.  The  same  principle  prevails  when  a  thought 
is  suggested  and  the  subject  is  invited  to  deliver  a  discourse 
thereon.  He  will  accept  the  suggestion  as  his  major  pre¬ 
mise  ;  and  whatever  there  is  within  the  range  of  his  own 
knowledge  or  experience,  whatever  he  has  seen,  heard,  01 
read,  which  confirms  or  illustrates  that  idea,  he  has  at  his 
command  and  effectually  uses  it,  but  is  apparently  totally 
oblivious  to  all  facts  or  ideas  which  do  not  confirm,  and  are 
not  in  accord  with,  the  one  central  idea.  It  is  obvious  thit 
inductive  reasoning,  under  such  conditions,  is  out  of  the 
question. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


PERFECT  MEMORY  OF  THE  SUBJECTIVE  MIND. 

Confirmed  by  Hypnotic  Phenomena. —  Opinions  of  Psychologists. — 
Sir  William  Hamilton’s  Views.  —  Observations  of  Dr.  Rush. — 
Talent  for  Poetry  and  Music  developed  by  Abnormal  Conditions. 

—  Talent  for  Drawing  evolved  by  Madness.  —  Resuscitation  of 
Knowledge  in  the  Insane.  —  E.xtraordinary  Feats  of  Memory  dur¬ 
ing  Illness. — A  Forgotten  Language  recovered.  —  Whole  Pages 
of  Greek  and  Hebrew  remembered  by  an  Illiterate  Servant  Girl. 

—  Speaking  in  Unknown  Tongues  explained. —  The  Result  of  the 
Operations  of  Natural  Law. 


NE  of  the  most  striking  and  important  peculiarities  of 


— '  the  subjective  mind,  as  distinguished  from  the  objec¬ 
tive,  consists  in  its  prodigious  memory.  It  would  perhaps  be 
hazardous  to  say  that  the  memory  of  the  subjective  mind  is 
perfect,  but  there  is  good  ground  for  believing  that  such  a 
proposition  would  be  substantially  true.  It  must  be  under¬ 
stood  that  this  remark  applies  only  to  the  most  profoundly 
subjective  state  and  to  the  most  favorable  conditions.  In 
all  degrees  of  hypnotic  sleep,  however,  the  exaltation  of  the 
memory  is  one  of  the  most  pronounced  of  the  attendant 
phenomena.  This  has  been  observed  by  all  hypnotists, 
especially  by  those  who  make  their  experiments  with  a 
view  of  studying  the  mental  action  of  the  subject.  Psychol¬ 
ogists  of  all  shades  of  belief  have  recognized  the  phenom¬ 
ena,  and  many  have  declared  their  conviction  that  the 
minutest  details  of  acquired  knowledge  are  recorded  upon 
the  tablets  of  the  mind,  and  that  they  only  require  favorable 
conditions  to  reveal  their  treasures. 


PERI'ECT  MEMORY  OE  THE  SUBJECTIVE  MIND.  41 


Sir  William  Hamilton,  in  his  “  Lectures  on  Metaphysics,” 
page  236,  designates  the  phenomenon  as  “  latent  memory.” 
He  says  :  — 

“  The  evidence  on  this  point  shows  that  the  mind  frequently 
contains  whole  systems  of  knowledge,  which,  though  in  our 
normal  state  they  have  faded  into  absolute  oblivion,  may,  in 
certain  abnormal  states  —  as  madness,  febrile  delirium,  som¬ 
nambulism,  catalepsy,  etc. — flash  out  into  luminous  conscious¬ 
ness,  and  even  throw  into  the  shade  of  unconsciousness  those 
other  systems  by  which  they  had,  for  a  long  period,  been 
eclipsed,  and  even  extinguished.  For  example,  there  are  cases 
in  which  the  extinct  memory  of  whole  languages  was  suddenly 
restored  ;  and,  what  is  even  still  more  remarkable,  in  which  the 
faculty  was  exhibited  of  accurately  repeating,  in  known  or  un¬ 
known  tongues,  passages  which  were  never  within  the  grasp  of 
conscious  memory  in  the  normal  state.” 

Sir  William  then  proceeds  to  quote,  with  approval,  a  few 
cases  which  illustrate  the  general  i)rinciple.  The  first  is  on 
the  authority  of  Dr.  Rush,  a  celebrated  American  physician  : 

“The  records  of  the  wit  and  cunning  of  madmen,”  says  the 
doctor,  “  are  numerous  in  every  country.  Talents  for  eloquence, 
poetry,  music,  and  painting,  and  uncommon  ingenuity  in  several 
of  the  mechanical  arts,  are  often  evolved  in  this  state  of  mad¬ 
ness.  A  gentleman  whom  I  attended  in  an  hospital  in  the  year 
1810,  often  delighted  as  well  as  astonished  the  patients  and 
officers  of  our  hospital  by  his  displays  of  oratory  in  preaching 
from  a  table  in  the  hospital  yard  every  Sunday.  A  female  pa¬ 
tient  of  mine  who  became  insane,  after  parturition,  in  the  year 
1807,  sang  hymns  and  songs  of  her  own  composition  during  the 
latter  stage  of  her  illness,  with  a  tone  of  voice  so  soft  and  pleas¬ 
ant  that  I  hung  upon  it  with  delight  every  time  I  visited  her. 
She  had  never  discovered  a  talent  for  poetry  or  music  in  any 
previous  part  of  her  life.  Two  instances  of  a  talent  for  draw¬ 
ing,  evolved  by  madness,  have  occurred  within  my  knowledge. 
And  where  is  the  hospital  for  mad  people  in  which  elegant  and 
completely  rigged  ships  and  curious  pieces  of  machinery  have 
not  been  exhibited  by  persons  who  never  discovered  the  least 
turn  for  a  mechanical  art  previous  to  their  derangement  ? 

“  Sometimes  we  observe  in  mad  people  an  unexpected  resus¬ 
citation  of  knowledge  ;  hence  we  hear  them  describe  past  events, 
and  speak  in  ancient  or  modern  languages,  or  repeat  long  and 


42 


THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


interesting  passages  from  books,  none  of  which,  we  are  sure, 
they  were  capable  of  recollecting  in  the  natural  and  healthy 
state  of  their  mind.”  ^ 

It  must  be  remembered  that  when  these  events  occurred, 
the  profession  knew  little  of  the  phenomena  of  hypnotism. 
In  the  light  of  present  knowledge  on  that  subject  it  is  easy 
to  understand  that  the  phenomena  here  recorded  are  refer¬ 
able  to  one  common  origin,  whatever  may  have  been  the 
proximate  cause  of  their  manifestation.  There  are  many 
ways  by  which  the  subjective  mind  may  be  caused  to  be¬ 
come  active  and  dominant  besides  deliberately  producing 
hypnotic  sleep.  Diseases  of  various  kinds,  particularly  those 
of  the  brain  or  nervous  system,  and  intense  febrile  excite¬ 
ment,  are  frequently  causes  of  the  total  or  partial  suspension 
of  the  functions  of  the  objective  mind,  and  of  exciting  the 
subjective  mind  to  intense  activity. 

The  next  case  quoted  by  Sir  William  is  from  “  Recollec¬ 
tions  of  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi,”  by  an  American 
clergyman  named  Flint :  — 

“  I  am  aware,”  he  remarks,  “  that  every  sufferer  in  this  way 
is  apt  to  think  his  own  case  extraordinary.  My  physicians 
agreed  with  all  who  saw  me  that  my  case  was  so.  As  very  few 
live  to  record  the  issue  of  a  sickness  like  mine,  and  as  you  have 
requested  me,  and  as  I  have  promised,  to  be  particular,  I  will 
relate  some  of  the  circumstances  of  this  disease.  And  it  is  in 
my  view  desirable,  in  the  bitter  agony  of  such  diseases,  that 
more  of  the  symptoms,  sensations,  and  sufferings  should  have 
been  recorded  than  have  been ;  and  that  others  in  similar  pre¬ 
dicaments  may  know  that  some  before  them  have  had  sufferings 
like  theirs,  and  have  survived  them.  I  had  had  a  fever  before, 
and  had  risen,  and  been  dressed  every  day.  But  in  this,  with 
the  first  day  I  was  prostrated  to  infantine  weakness,  and  felt, 
with  its  first  attack,  that  it  was  a  thing  very  different  from  what 
I  had  yet  experienced. 

“  Paroxysms  of  derangement  occurred  the  third  day,  and  this 
was  to  me  a  new  state  of  mind.  That  state  of  disease  in  which 
partial  derangement  is  mixed  with  a  consciousness  generally 
sound,  and  sensibility  preternaturally  excited,  I  should  suppose 
the  most  distressing  of  all  its  forms.  At  the  same  time  that  I 


1  Beasley  on  the  Mind,  p.  474. 


PERFECT  MEMORY  OF  THE  SUBJECTIVE  MIND.  43 


was  unable  to  recognize  my  friends,  I  was  informed  that  my 
memory  was  more  than  ordinarily  exact  and  retentive,  and  that 
I  repeated  whole  passages  in  the  different  languages  which  I 
knew,  with  entire  accuracy.  1  recited,  without  losing  or  mis¬ 
placing  a  word,  a  passage  of  poetry  which  1  could  not  so  repeat 
after  1  recovered  my  health.” 

The  following  more  curious  case  is  given  by  Lord  Mon- 
boddo  in  his  “  Ancient  Metaphysics  ”  :  ^  — 

“  It  was  communicated  in  a  letter  from  the  late  Mr.  Hans 
Stanley,  a  gentleman  well  known  both  to  the  learned  and  poli¬ 
tical  world,  who  did  me  the  honor  to  correspond  with  me  upon 
the  subject  of  my  first  volume  of  Metaphysics.  I  will  give 
it  in  the  words  of  that  gentleman.  He  introduces  it  by  saying 
that  it  is  an  extraordinary  fact  in  the  history  of  mind,  which 
he  believes  stands  single,  and  for  which  he  does  not  pretend 
to  account ;  then  he  goes  on  to  narrate  it :  ‘  About  six-and-twenty 
years  ago,  when  I  was  in  Trance,  1  had  an  intimacy  in  the 
family  of  the  late  Mar^chal  de  Montmorenci  de  Laval.  His 
son,  the  Comte  de  Laval,  was  married  to  Mademoiselle  de  Man- 
peaux,  the  daughter  of  a  lieutenant-general  of  that  name,  and 
the  niece  of  the  late  chancellor.  This  gentleman  was  killed  at 
the  battle  of  Hastenbeck.  His  widow  survived  him  some  years, 
but  is  since  dead. 

“  ‘  The  following  fact  comes  from  her  own  mouth ;  she  has 
told  it  me  repeatedly.  She  was  a  woman  of  perfect  veracity 
and  very  good  sense.  She  appealed  to  her  servants  and  family 
for  the  truth.  Nor  did  she,  indeed,  seem  to  be  sensible  that  the 
matter  was  so  extraordinary  as  it  appeared  to  me.  I  wrote  it 
down  at  the  time,  and  I  have  the  memorandum  among  some  of 
my  papers. 

“  ‘  The  Comtesse  de  Laval  had  been  observed,  by  servants 
who  sat  up  with  her  on  account  of  some  indisposition,  to  talk  in 
her  sleep  a  language  that  none  of  them  understood ;  nor  were 
they  sure,  or,  indeed,  herself  able  to  guess,  upon  the  sounds 
being  repeated  to  her,  whether  it  was  or  was  not  gibberish. 

Upon  her  lying-in  of  one  of  her  children  she  was  attended 
by  a  nurse  who  was  of  the  province  of  Brittany,  and  who  imme¬ 
diately  knew  the  meaning  of  what  she  said,  it  being  in  the  idiom 
of  the  natives  of  that  country ;  but  she  herself  when  awake  did 
not  understand  a  single  syllable  of  what  she  had  uttered  in  bet 
sleep,  upon  its  being  retold  her. 


1  Vol.  ii.  p.  217. 


44 


THE  LA  ]V  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


“  ‘  She  was  born  in  that  province,  and  had  been  nursed  in  a 
family  where  nothing  but  that  language  was  spoken;  so  that  in 
her  first  infancy  she  had  known  it,  and  no  other;  but  when  she 
returned  to  her  parents,  she  had  no  opportunity  of  keeping  up 
the  use  of  it ;  and,  as  I  have  before  said,  she  did  not  under¬ 
stand  a  word  of  Breton  when  awake,  though  she  spoke  it  in  her 
sleep. 

“  ‘  I  need  not  say  that  the  Comtesse  de  Laval  never  said  or 
imagined  that  she  used  any  words  of  the  Breton  idiom,  more 
than  were  necessary  to  express  those  ideas  that  are  within  the 
compass  of  a  child’s  knowledge  of  objects.’  ” 

A  highly  interesting  case  is  given  by  Mr.  Coleridge  in  his 
“  Biographia  Literaria.”  ^ 

“It  occurred,”  says  Mr.  Coleridge,  “  in  a  Roman  Catholic 
town  in  Germany,  a  year  or  two  before  my  arrival  at  Gottingen, 
and  had  not  then  ceased  to  be  a  frequent  subject  of  conversa¬ 
tion.  A  young  woman  of  four  or  five  and  twenty,  who  could 
neither  read  nor  write,  was  seized  with  a  nervous  fever,  during 
which,  according  to  the  asseverations  of  all  the  priests  and 
monks  of  the  neighborhood,  she  became  possessed,  and  as  it 
appeared,  by  a  very  learned  devil.  She  continued  incessantly 
talking  Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew,  in  very  pompous  tones,  and 
with  most  distinct  enunciation.  This  possession  was  rendered 
more  probable  by  the  known  fact  that  she  was,  or  had  been,  a 
heretic.  Voltaire  humorously  advises  the  devil  to  decline  all 
acquaintance  with  medical  men ;  and  it  would  have  been  more 
to  his  reputation  if  he  had  taken  this  advice  in  the  present  in¬ 
stance.  The  case  had  attracted  the  particular  attention  of  a 
young  physician,  and  by  his  statement  many  eminent  physiolo¬ 
gists  and  psychologists  visited  the  town  and  cross-examined  the 
case  on  the  spot.  Sheets  full  of  her  ravings  were  taken  down 
from  her  own  mouth,  and  were  found  to  consist  of  sentences, 
coherent  and  intelligible  each  for  itself,  but  with  little  or  no 
connection  with  each  other.  Of  the  Hebrew,  a  small  portion 
only  could  be  traced  to  the  Bible ;  the  remainder  seemed  to  be 
in  the  Rabbinical  dialect.  All  trick  or  conspiracy  was  out  of 
the  question.  Not  only  had  the  young  woman  ever  been  a 
harmless,  simple  creature,  but  she  was  evidently  laboring  under 
a  nervous  fever.  In  the  town  in  which  she  had  been  resident 
for  many  years  as  a  servant  in  different  families,  no  solution 


1  Vol.  i.  p.  117  (edit.  1847). 


PERFECT  MEMORY  OF  THE  SUBJECTIVE  MIND.  45 


presented  itself.  The  young  physician,  however,  determined  to 
trace  her  past  life  step  by  step ;  for  the  patient  herself  was 
incapable  of  returning  a  rational  answer.  He  at  length  suc¬ 
ceeded  in  discovering  the  place  where  her  parents  had  lived ; 
travelled  thither,  found  them  dead,  but  an  uncle  surviving ;  and 
from  him  learned  that  the  patient  had  been  charitably  taken  by 
an  old  Protestant  pastor  at  nine  years  old,  and  had  remained 
with  him  some  years,  even  till  the  old  man’s  death.  Of  this 
pastor  the  uncle  knew  nothing,  but  that  he  was  a  very  good 
man.  With  great  difficulty,  and  after  much  search,  our  young 
medical  philosopher  discovered  a  niece  of  the  pastor’s  who  had 
lived  with  him  as  his  housekeeper,  and  had  inherited  his  effects. 
She  remembered  the  girl ;  related  that  her  venerable  uncle  had 
been  too  indulgent,  and  could  not  bear  to  hear  the  girl  scolded ; 
that  she  was  willing  to  have  kept  her,  but  that,  after  her  parent’s 
death,  the  girl  herself  refused  to  stay.  Anxious  inquiries  were 
then,  of  course,  made  concerning  the  pastor’s  habits ;  and  the 
solution  of  the  phenomenon  was  soon  obtained.  F or  it  appeared 
that  it  had  been  the  ol(l  man’s  custom  for  years  to  walk  up  and 
down  a  passage  of  his  house  into  which  the  kitchen-door  opened, 
and  to  read  to  himself,  with  a  loud  voice,  out  of  his  favorite 
books.  A  considerable  number  of  these  were  still  in  the  niece’s 
possession.  She  added  that  he  was  a  very  learned  man  and  a 
great  Hebraist.  Among  the  books  were  found  a  collection  of 
Rabbinical  writings,  together  with  several  of  the  Greek  and 
Latin  Fathers;  and  the  physician  succeeded  in  identifying  so 
many  passages  with  those  taken  down  at  the  young  woman's 
bedside  that  no  doubt  could  remain  in  any  rational  mind  con¬ 
cerning  the  true  origin  of  the  impressions  made  on  her  nervous 
system.” 

The  reader  will  not  fail  to  observe  that  in  all  these  cases 
the  subjects  reproduced  simply  what  they  had  seen,  heard, 
or  read.  The  impressions  upon  the  objective  mind,  par¬ 
ticularly  in  the  case  related  by  Coleridge,  must  have  been 
superficial  to  the  last  degree ;  but  the  result  demonstrated 
that  the  record  upon  the  tablets  of  the  subjective  mind  was 
ineffaceable. 

These  are  not  isolated  cases.  Thousands  of  similar  phe¬ 
nomena  have  been  recorded  by  the  most  trustworthy  of 
observers.  Their  significance  cannot  be  mistaken.  In 
their  light  the  wonderful  mental  feats  of  trance-speakers 
are  easily  explicable,  without  invoking  the  aid  of  a  super- 


46  THE  LAW  OF-  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 

natural  agency.  Speaking  “in  unknown  tongues”  is  seen 
to  be  merely  a  feat  of  subjective  memory. 

When  we  consider  what  a  prodigy  of  learning  the  average 
man  would  be  if  he  could  have  at  his  command  all  that  he 
had  ever  seen,  heard,  or  read ;  when  we  remember  that  the 
subjective  mind  does  record,  and  does  have  at  its  com¬ 
mand,  all  the  experiences  of  the  individual,  and  that,  under 
certain  abnormal  conditions,  in  obedience  to  the  initial 
impulse  of  suggestion,  all  its  treasures  are  instantly  avail¬ 
able,  —  we  may  marvel  at  the  wonderful  gifts  with  which  the 
human  mind  is  endowed ;  but  we  may  rest  assured  that  the 
phenomena  displayed  are  the  results  of  the  operations  of 
natural  law. 

The  reader  should  distinctly  bear  in  mind  that  there  is  a 
wide  distinction  between  objective  and  subjective  memory. 
The  former  is  one  of  the  functions  of  the  brain,  and,  as  has 
been  shown  by  recent  investigations,  has  an  absolute  local¬ 
ization  in  the  cerebral  cortex ;  and  the  different  varieties  of 
memory,  such  as  visual  memory,  auditory  memory,  memory 
of  speech,  etc.,  can  be  destroyed  by  localized  disease  or 
by  a  surgical  operation.  Subjective  memory,  on  the  other 
hand,  appears  to  be  an  inherent  power,  and  free  from  ana¬ 
tomical  relations  ■,  or  at  least  it  does  not  appear  to  depend 
upon  the  healthy  condition  of  the  brain  for  its  power  of 
manifestation.  On  the  contrary,  the  foregoing  facts  demon¬ 
strate  the  proposition  that  abnormal  conditions  of  the  brain 
are  often  productive  of  the  most  striking  exhibitions  of  sub¬ 
jective  memory.  The  late  Dr.  George  M.  Beard  of  New 
York,  who  was  the  first  American  scientist  clearly  to  recog¬ 
nize  the  scientific  importance  of  the  phenomena  of  hypno¬ 
tism,  who  was  the  formulator  of  the  “  Six  Sources  of  Error  ” 
which  beset  the  pathway  of  the  investigator  of  that  science, 
and  the  one  who  did  more  than  any  other  American  of  his 
time  to  place  the  study  of  hypnotic  phenomena  on  a  scien¬ 
tific  basis,  evinces  a  clear  recognition  of  this  distinction 
when  he  says  :  — 

“  To  attempt  to  build  up  a  theory  of  trance  [hypnotic  phenom¬ 
ena]  on  a  basis  of  cerebral  anatomy  is  to  attempt  the  impossible. 


PERFECT  MEMORY  OF  THE  SUBJECTIVE  MIiXD.  47 

All  theories  of  trance  based  on  cerebral  anatomy  or  physiology 
. —  such  as  suspension  of  the  activity  of  the  cortex,  or  half  the 
brain  —  break  down  at  once  when  brought  face  to  face  with  the 
facts.”  1 

All  the  facts  of  hypnotism  show  that  the  more  quies¬ 
cent  the  objective  faculties  become,  or,  in  other  words,  the 
more  perfectly  the  functions  of  the  brain  are  suspended, 
the  more  exalted  are  the  manifestations  of  the  subjective 
mind.  Indeed,  the  whole  history  of  subjective  phenomena 
goes  to  show  that  the  nearer  the  body  approaches  the  con¬ 
dition  of  death,  the  stronger  become  the  demonstrations  of 
the  powers  of  the  soul.  The  irresistible  inference  is  that 
when  the  soul  is  freed  entirely  from  its  trammels  of  flesh, 
its  powers  will  attain  perfection,  its  memory  will  be  abso¬ 
lute.  Of  this  more  will  be  said  in  its  proper  place.  In  the 
mean  time,  it  may  be  proper  here  to  remark  that  subjective 
memory  appears  to  be  the  only  kind  or  quality  of  memory 
which  deserves  that  appellation ;  it  is  the  only  memory 
which  is  absolute.  The  memory  of  the  objective  mind, 
comparatively  speaking,  is  more  properly  designated  as 
recollection.  The  distinction  here  sought  to  be  made  can 
be  formulated  in  no  better  language  than  that  employed  by 
Locke  in  deflning  the  scope  and  meaning  of  the  two  words  : 
“  When  an  idea  again  recurs  without  the  operation  of  the 
like  object  on  the  external  sensory,  it  is  remembrance ;  if 
it  be  sought  after  by  the  mind,  and  with  pain  and  endeavor 
found,  and  brought  again  into  view,  it  is  7-ecollecHon." 

*  N.itiire  and  Phenomena  of  Trance  (“  Hypnotism  ”  or  “  Somnam 
bnlism  ”),  p.  6. 

*  Essays  Concerning  Human  Understanding,  vol.  i.  p.  aiy. 


CHAPTER  V. 

SUBJECTIVE  MEMORY  {contimted') . 

Practical  Illustrations.  —  Reasons  for  Limitations  of  Subjective 
Power. — Its  Practical  Significance.  —  Its  Application  to  the  So¬ 
lution  of  Problems  of  Insanity.  —  The  Mental  Phenomena  of 
“  Genius.”  —  Napoleon  Bonaparte.  —  Shakspeare.  —  Poets.  — 
Artists.  —  Macaulay’s  Estimate  of  Poets  and  Poetry.  —  Dangers 
of  Subjective  Control.  —  Lord  Byron.  —  Socrates’  Estimate  of 
Poets. —  Plis  Recognition  of  the  Subjective  Element  in  Poetic 
Composition.  —  Occasional  Inconveniences.  —  Unconscious  Pla¬ 
giarism.  —  Observations  of  Holmes.  —  Improvisation.  —  Solution 
of  the  Shakspeare-Bacon  Problem.  —  The  Subjective  in  Art. — 
Madness  in  Art. — Great  Orators.  —  Webster.  —  Clay.  —  Patrick 
Henry.  —  Incidents.  —  Practical  Conclusions. 

I T  is  thought  that  the  facts  related  in  the  preceding  chap- 
^  ter  are  sufficient  to  demonstrate  the  substantial  correct¬ 
ness  of  the  proposition  that  the  memory  of  the  subjective 
mind  is  practically  perfect.  Before  leaving  this  branch  of 
the  subject,  however,  and  proceeding  to  detail  other  pecu¬ 
liarities  which  distinguish  the  two  minds,  it  is  deemed  proper 
to  offer  a  few  practical  illustrations  of  the  principles  in¬ 
volved,  drawn  from  common  observation,  and  incidentally 
to  apply  those  principles  to  the  solution  of  various  prob¬ 
lems  of  every-day  experience.  It  will  be  remembered  that 
thus  far  we  have  confined  our  observations  to  the  opera¬ 
tions  of  the  subjective  mind  when  the  subject  is  in  a 
diseased  or  in  a  deeply  hypnotic  condition,  with  the  ob¬ 
jective  senses  in  complete  abeyance.  This  has  been  done 
for  the  purpose  of  more  clearly  illustrating  the  fundamental 


SUBJECTIVE  MEMORY. 


49 


propositions.  The  phenomena  of  purely  subjective  mental 
action,  are,  however,  of  little  practical  importance  to  man¬ 
kind  when  compared  with  the  action  of  the  subjective 
mind  modified  by  the  co-ordinate  power  of  the  objective 
intelligence. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  an  All-wise  Providence  has 
placed  within  the  human  frame  a  separate  entity,  endowed 
with  such  wonderful  powers  as  we  have  seen  that  it  pos¬ 
sesses,  and  hedged  about  by  the  limitations  with  which  we 
know  it  to  be  environed,  without  so  ordaining  its  relations 
with  man’s  objective  intelligence  as  to  render  it  of  practical 
value  to  the  human  race  in  its  struggle  with  its  physical 
environment.  It  might  at  first  glance  seem  incongruous 
to  suppose  that  the  subjective  mind  could  be  at  once  the 
storehouse  of  memory  and  the  source  of  inspiration,  lim¬ 
ited  as  to  its  methods  and  powers  of  reasoning,  and  at  the 
same  time  subject  to  the  imperial  control  of  the  objective 
mind.  A  moment’s  reflection,  however,  will  show  that  in 
the  very  nature  of  things  it  must  necessarily  be  true.  “  A 
house  divided  against  itself  cannot  stand.”  There  must  be 
a  controlling  power  in  every  well-regulated  household,  mu¬ 
nicipality,  nation,  or  organism.  There  is  a  positive  and 
a  negative  force  in  the  greatest  physical  power  known  to 
mankind.  There  is  a  male  and  a  female  element  in  every 
race  and  order  of  created  organisms ;  and  those  philoso¬ 
phers  who  hold  that  there  appertain  to  every  man  a  male 
and  a  female  element  have  dimly  recognized  the  duality  of 
man’s  mental  organization. 

Why  it  is  that  the  objective  mind  has  been  invested  with 
the  controlling  influence,  limited  as  are  its  resources  and 
feeble  as  are  its  powers,  is  a  question  upon  which  it  would 
be  idle  to  speculate.  It  profits  us  only  to  know  the  fact 
and  to  study  its  practical  significance,  without  wasting  our 
energies  in  seeking  to  know  the  ultimate  cause.  We  may 
rest  assured  that  in  this,  as  in  all  other  laws  of  Nature,  we 
shall  find  infinite  wisdom. 

If  any  one  doubts  the  wisdom  of  investing  the  objective 
mind  with  the  controlling  power  in  the  dual  organization, 

4 


50 


THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


let  him  visit  a  madhouse.  There  he  will  see  all  shades 
and  degrees  of  subjective  control.  There  he  will  see  men 
whose  objective  minds  have  completely  abdicated  the 
throne,  and  whose  subjective  minds  are  in  pursuit  of  one 
idea,  —  controlled  by  one  dominant  impression,  which  sub¬ 
ordinates  all  others.  These  are  the  monomaniacs,  —  the 
victims  of  false  suggestions.  These  suggestions  may  be 
given  from  without,  in  a  thousand  dilferent  ways  which  will 
be  readily  recognized  by  the  student  of  insanity,  or  by 
auto-suggestion.  Long  and  intense  concentration  of  mind 
upon  one  subject,  and  inordinate  egotism,  will  be  readily 
recognized  as  striking  illustrations  of  the  power  of  auto¬ 
suggestion  as  a  factor  in  monomania.  The  maniac  is  one 
whose  objective  mind  is  disorganized  by  disease  of  its 
organ,  the  brain ;  the  result  being  distortion  of  objective 
impressions,  and  consequent  false  suggestions  to  the  subjec¬ 
tive  mind. 

Those  who  study  the  subject  from  this  standpoint  will  find 
an  easy  solution  to  many  an  obscure  problem.  The  sub¬ 
ject  is  here  adverted  to  merely  to  show  the  consequences 
arising  from  allowing  the  subjective  mind  to  usurp  complete 
control  of  the  mental  organization.  It  will  be  readily  seen 
that  human  society,  outside  of  lunatic  asylums,  constantly 
furnishes  numerous  examples  of  abnormal  subjective  con¬ 
trol.  So  generally  is  this  fact  recognized  that  it  has 
passed  into  a  proverb  that  “  every  man  is  insane  on  some 
subject.” 

The  question  arises.  What  part  does  the  subjective  mind 
play  in  the  normal  operation  of  the  human  intellect?  This 
question  may  be  answered  in  a  general  way  by  saying  that 
the  most  perfect  exhibition  of  intellectual  power  is  the  re¬ 
sult  of  the  synchronous  action  of  the  objective  and  subjec¬ 
tive  minds.  When  this  is  seen  in  its  perfection  the  world 
names  it  genius.  In  this  condition  the  individual  has  the 
benefit  of  all  the  reasoning  powers  of  the  objective  mind, 
combined  with  the  perfect  memory  of  the  subjective  mind 
and  its  marvellous  power  of  syllogistic  arrangement  of  its 
resources.  In  short,  all  the  elements  of  intellectual  power 


SUBJECTIVE  MEMORY. 


51 


are  then  in  a  state  of  intense  and  harmonious  activity. 
This  condition  may  be  perfectly  normal,  though  it  is  rarely 
seen  in  its  perfection.  Probably  the  most  striking  exam¬ 
ples  which  history  affords  were  Napoleon  Bonaparte  and 
Shakspeare.  The  intelligent  student  of  the  history  of  their 
lives  and  work  will  not  fail  to  recall  a  thousand  incidents 
which  illustrate  the  truth  of  this  proposition.  True  genius 
is  undoubtedly  the  result  of  the  synchronous  action  of 
the  two  minds,  neither  unduly  predominating  or  usurping 
the  powers  and  functions  of  the  other.  When  the  subjec¬ 
tive  is  allowed  to  dominate,  the  resultant  acts  of  the  in¬ 
dividual  are  denominated  “  the  eccentricities  of  genius.” 
When  the  subjective  usurps  complete  control,  the  individual 
goes  insane. 

There  are  certain  classes  of  persons  whose  intellectual 
labors  are  characterized  by  subjective  activity  in  a  very 
marked  degree.  Poets  and  artists  are  the  most  conspicu¬ 
ous  examples.  So  marked  is  the  peculiarity  of  the  poetic 
mind  in  this  respect  that  it  has  become  almost  proverbial. 
Lord  Macaulay,  in  his  Essay  on  Milton,  uses  language  which 
shows  that  he  clearly  recognized  the  subjective  element  in 
all  true  poetry.  He  says  :  — 

“  Perhaps  no  man  can  be  a  poet,  or  can  even  enjoy  poetry, 
without  a  certain  unsoundness  of  mind,  —  if  anything  which 
gives  so  much  pleasure  ought  to  be  called  unsoundness.  By 
poetry  we  mean  not,  of  course,  all  writing  in  verse,  nor  even  all 
good  writing  in  verse.  Our  definition  excludes  many  metrical 
compositions  which  on  other  grounds  deserve  the  highest  praise. 
By  poetry  we  mean  the  art  of  employing  words  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  produce  an  illusion  on  the  imagination  ;  the  art  of 
doing  by  means  of  words  what  the  painter  does  by  means  of 
colors.  Thus  the  greatest  of  poets  has  described  it,  in  lines 
universally  admired  for  the  vigor  and  felicity  of  their  diction, 
and  still  more  valuable  on  account  of  the  just  notion  which  they 
convey  of  the  art  in  which  he  excelled. 

As  imagination  bodies  forth 
The  forms  of  things  unknown,  the  poet’s  pen 
Turns  them  to  shapes,  and  gives  to  airy  nothing 
A  local  habitation  and  a  name.’ 


52 


THE  LA  W  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


“These  are  the  fruits  of  the  ‘fine  frenzy’  which  he  ascribes 
to  the  poet,  —  a  fine  frenzy  doubtless,  but  still  a  frenzy.  Truth, 
indeed,  is  essential  to  poetry,  but  it  is  the  truth  of  madness. 
The  reasonings  are  just,  but  the  premises  are  false.  After 
the  first  suppositions  have  been  made,  everything  ought  to  be 
consistent ;  but  those  first  suppositions  require  a  degree  of 
credulity  which  almost  amounts  to  a  partial  and  temporary 
derangement  of  the  intellect.  Hence,  of  all  people,  children 
are  the  most  imaginative.  They  abandon  themselves  without 
reserve  to  every  illusion.  Every  image  which  is  strongly  pre¬ 
sented  to  their  mental  eye  produces  on  them  the  effect  of  reality. 
No  man,  whatever  his  sensibility  may  be,  is  ever  affected  by 
Hamlet  or  Lear  as  a  little  girl  is  affected  by  the  story  of  poor 
Red-Riding-Hood.  She  knows  that  it  is  all  false,  that  wolves 
cannot  speak,  that  there  are  no  wolves  in  England.  Yet  in 
spite  of  her  knowledge  she  believes ;  she  weeps ;  she  trembles ; 
she  dares  not  go  into  a  dark  room,  lest  she  should  feel  the  teeth 
of  the  monster  at  her  throat.  Such  is  the  despotism  of  the 
imagination  over  uncivilized  minds.” 

In  other  words,  such  is  the  despotism  of  suggestion  over 
the  subjective  mind.  No  truer  statement  of  the  methods 
of  subjective  mental  action  could  be  written.  “The  rea¬ 
sonings  are  just,  but  the  premises  are  false,”  says  Macaulay. 
True,  the  deductive  reasonings  of  the  subjective  mind  are 
always  just,  logical,  syllogistically  perfect,  and  are  equally 
so  whether  the  premises  are  false  or  true. 

Macaulay’s  remark  concerning  children  is  eminently  phil¬ 
osophical  and  true  to  nature.  Children  are  almost  purely 
subjective ;  and  no  one  needs  to  be  told  how  completely 
a  suggestion,  true  or  false,  will  take  control  of  their  minds. 
This  is  seen  in  perfection  when  children  are  playing  games 
in  which  one  of  them  is  supposed  to  be  a  wild  beast.  The 
others  will  flee  in  affected  terror  from  the  beast ;  but  the 
affectation  often  becomes  a  real  emotion,  and  tears,  and 
sometimes  convulsions,  result  from  their  fright. 

The  remark  elsewhere  made  regarding  the  eccentricities 
of  genius  applies  in  a  marked  degree  to  poets.  It  is  prob¬ 
able  that  in  all  the  greater  poets  the  subjective  mind  often 
predominates.  Certainly  the  subjective  element  is  dom¬ 
inant  in  their  works.  The  career  of  Lord  Byron  is  at  once 


SUBJECTIVE  MEMORY. 


53 


a  splendid  illustration  of  the  marvellous  powers  and  the 
inexhaustible  resources  of  the  subjective  mind  in  a  man  of 
learning  and  cultivation,  and  a  sad  commentary  on  the  folly 
and  danger  of  allowing  the  subjective  mind  to  usurp  control 
of  the  dual  mental  organization. 

Many  of  the  poems  of  Coleridge  furnish  striking  ex¬ 
amples  of  the  dominance  of  the  subjective  in  poetry.  His 
readers  will  readily  recall  the  celebrated  fragment  entitled 
“  Kubla  Khan ;  or,  a  Vision  in  a  Dream,”  beginning  as 
follows :  — 

“In  Xanadu  did  Kubla  Khan 
A  stately  pleasure-dome  decree,  — 

Where  Alph,  the  sacred  river,  ran 
Through  caverns  measureless  to  man 
Down  to  a  sunless  sea.” 

It  is  unfortunately  true  that  the  subjective  condition  in  his 
case  was  often  brought  about  by  artificial  means ;  and  it  is 
expressly  stated  in  a  prefatory  note  to  “  Kubla  Khan  ”  that 
this  fragment  was  written  while  under  the  influence  of  an 
anodyne.  As  an  illustration  of  the  principle  under  con¬ 
sideration  it  is,  however,  none  the  less  valuable ;  while  the 
career  of  the  gifted  but  unfortunate  poet  should  serve  as  a 
warning  against  the  practices  in  which  he  indulged. 

Macaulay  further  remarks  :  — 

“In  an  enlightened  age  there  will  be  much  intelligence,  much 
science,  much  philosophy,  abundance  of  just  classification  and 
subtle  analysis,  abundance  of  wit  and  eloquence,  abundance  of 
verses,  —  and  even  of  good  ones,  —  but  little  poetry.  Men  will 
judge  and  compare ;  but  they  will  not  create.”  ^ 

In  other  words,  this  is  an  age  of  purely  objective  cultiva¬ 
tion.  All  our  powers  of  inductive  reasoning  are  strained  to 
their  highest  tension  in  an  effort  to  penetrate  the  secrets  of 
physical  Nature,  and  to  harness  her  dynamic  forces.  Mean¬ 
time,  the  normal  exercise  of  that  co-ordinate  power  in  our 
mental  structure  is  fast  falling  into  desuetude,  and  its 

*  Scott’s  poems  are  good  illustrations.  They  are  not  ranked  as 
first  class  for  the  sole  reason  that  they  are  too  objective. 


54 


THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


manifestations,  not  being  understood,  are  relegated  to  the 
domain  of  superstition. 

Socrates,  in  his  Apology  to  the  Athenians,  seems  to  have 
entertained  opinions  in  regard  to  poets  similar  to  those  of 
Lord  Macaulay.  In  his  search  for  wiser  men  than  himself 
he  went  first  to  the  politicians.  Failing  there,  he  went  to 
the  poets,  with  the  following  result :  — 

“Taking  up,  therefore,  some  of  their  poems,  which  appeared 
to  me  most  elaborately  finished,  I  questioned  them  as  to  their 
meaning,  that  at  the  same  time  I  might  learn  something  from 
them.  I  am  ashamed,  O  Athenians,  to  tell  you  the  truth ; 
however,  it  must  be  told.  For,  in  a  word,  almost  all  who  were 
present  could  have  given  a  better  account  of  them  than  those 
by  whom  they  had  been  composed.  I  soon  discovered  this, 
therefore,  with  regard  to  the  poets,  that  they  do  not  effect  their 
object  by  wisdom,  but  by  a  certain  natural  inspiration,  and 
under  the  influence  of  enthusiasm,  like  prophets  and  seers ;  for 
these  also  say  many  fine  things,  but  they  understand  nothing 
that  they  say.” 

Words  could  not  express  more  clearly  the  recognition  of 
the  subjective  element  in  poetic  composition  •,  and  it  ex¬ 
actly  accords  with  Macaulay’s  idea  regarding  the  poets  and 
the  poetry  of  the  ancient  days. 

The  subjective  mind  once  recognized  as  a  factor  in  the 
mental  powers  of  the  poet,  it  follows  that  its  resources  are 
all  at  his  command.  Its  perfect  memory,  its  instant 
command  of  all  the  acquired  knowledge  of  the  individual, 
however  superficially  attained  or  imperfectly  remembered, 
objectively,  is  a  source  of  stupendous  power.  But,  like  all 
other  gifts  of  nature,  it  is  liable  at  times  to  be  a  source  of 
inconvenience  ;  for  it  sometimes  happens  that  in  ordinary 
composition  a  person  will  unconsciously  reproduce,  ver¬ 
batim,  some  long- forgotten  expressions,  perhaps  a  whole 
stanza,  or  even  an  entire  poem.  It  may,  perchance,  be  of 
his  own  composition ;  but  it  is  just  as  likely  to  be  some¬ 
thing  that  he  has  read  years  before  and  forgotten,  objec¬ 
tively,  as  soon  as  read.  In  this  way  many  persons  have 
subjected  themselves  to  the  charge  of  plagiarism,  when 


SUBJECTIVE  MEMOkY. 


55 


they  were  totally  unconscious  of  guilt.  Many  of  the  great 
poets  have  been  accused  of  minor  plagiarisms,  and  much 
inconsiderate  criticism  has  been  the  result.  Oliver  Wendell 
Holmes  mentions  unconscious  reproduction  as  one  of  the 
besetting  annoyances  of  a  poet’s  experience.  “  It  is  im¬ 
possible  to  tell,”  he  says,  “in  many  cases,  whether  a  com¬ 
parison  which  suddenly  suggests  itself  is  a  new  conception 
or  a  recollection.  I  told  you  the  other  day  that  I  never 
wrote  a  line  of  verse  that  seemed  to  me  comparatively  good, 
but  it  appeared  old  at  once,  and  often  as  if  it  had  been 
borrowed.”  ^ 

A  certain  class  of  trance-speaking  mediums,  so  called, 
are  often  called  upon  to  improvise  poems,  the  subject 
being  suggested  by  some  one  in  the  audience.  Often  a 
very  creditable  performance  is  the  result ;  but  it  more  fre¬ 
quently  happens  that  they  reproduce  something  that  they 
have  read. 

Sometimes  whole  poems  are  thus  reproduced  by  persons 
in  an  apparently  normal  condition.  This  accounts  for  the 
frequent  disputes  concerning  the  authorship  of  popular 
verses.  Instances  of  this  kind  are  fresh  in  the  minds  of 
most  readers,  as,  for  example,  a  recent  controversy  between 
two  well-known  writers  relative  to  the  authorship  of  the 
poem  beginning,  “  Laugh,  and  the  world  laughs  with  you.” 
d'he  circumstances  of  such  coincidences  often  preclude  the 
possibility  of  either  claimant  deliberately  plagiarizing  the 
work,  or  telling  a  falsehood  concerning  its  authorship.  Yet 
nothing  is  more  certain  than  that  one  of  them  is  not  its 
author.  Possibly  neither  is  entitled  to  that  credit.  When,  in 
the  nature  of  things,  it  is  impossible  for  either  to  prove  the 
fact  of  authorship,  and  when  the  evidence  on  both  sides  is 
about  equally  balanced,  we  may  never  know  the  exact  truth  ; 
but  as  the  theory  of  unconscious  subjective  reproduction  is 
consistent  with  the  literary  honesty  of  both,  it  may  well  be 
accepted  as  the  true  one,  aside  from  the  inherent  probability 
of  its  correctness. 


1  Autocrat  of  the  Breakfast-Table. 


56  THE  LAW  OF  rSYCHJC  PHENOMENA. 


The  solution  of  the  great  question  as  to  the  authorship  ol 
Shakspeare’s  works  may  be  found  in  this  hypothesis.  The 
advocates  of  the  Baconian  theory  tell  us  that  Shakspeare 
was  an  unlearned  man.  This  is  true  so  far  as  high  scholas¬ 
tic  attainments  are  concerned ;  but  it  is  also  known  that  he 
was  a  man  of  extensive  reading,  and  was  the  companion  of 
many  of  the  great  men  of  his  time,  among  whom  were 
Bacon,  Ben  Jonson,  Drayton,  Beaumont,  Fletcher,  and 
others.  It  is  in  evidence  that  the  Mermaid  Tavern  was 
the  scene  of  many  an  encounter  of  wit  and  learning  be¬ 
tween  these  worthies.  In  this  way  he  was  brought  into 
constant  contact  with  the  brightest  minds  of  the  Elizabe¬ 
than  age.  He  was  not  only  familiar  with  their  works,  but 
he  had  also  the  benefit  of  their  conversation,  —  which  famil¬ 
iarized  him  with  their  thoughts  and  modes  of  expression,  — 
and  of  close  personal  relations  with  them  in  their  convivial 
moods,  when  wit  and  eloquence,  learning  and  philosophy, 
flowed  as  freely  as  their  wine. 

The  internal  evidence  of  his  works  shows  that  Shak¬ 
speare’s  mind,  compared  with  that  of  any  other  poet  whose 
writings  are  known,  was  the  most  harmoniously  developed. 
In  other  words,  his  objective  and  subjective  faculties  were 
exquisitely  balanced.  When  this  fact  is  considered  in  the 
light  of  what  has  been  said  of  the  marvellous  powers  of  sub¬ 
jective  memory,  and  in  connection  with  his  intellectual  en¬ 
vironment,  the  source  of  his  power  and  inspiration  becomes 
apparent.  In  his  moments  of  inspiration  —  and  he  seems 
always  to  have  been  inspired  when  writing  —  he  had  the  bene¬ 
fit  of  a  perfect  memory  and  a  logical  comprehension  of  all 
that  had  been  imparted  by  the  brightest  minds  of  the  most 
marvellous  literary  and  philosophical  age  in  the  history  of 
mankind.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  he  was  able  to  strike  a 
responsive  chord  in  every  human  breast,  to  run  the  gamut 
of  every  human  emotion,  to  portray  every  shade  of  human 
character,  and  to  embellish  his  work  with  all  the  wit  and 
learning  of  his  day  and  generation  ? 

Artists  constitute  another  class  in  whom  the  subjective 
faculties  are  largely  cultivated,  and  are  often  predominant. 


SUBJECTIVE  MEMORY. 


57 


Indeed,  no  man  can  become  a  true  artist  whose  subjective 
mind  is  not  cultivated  to  a  high  degree  of  activity.  One 
may  become  a  good  draughtsman,  or  learn  to  delineate  a 
figure  with  accuracy,  or  to  draw  a  landscape  with  photo¬ 
graphic  fidelity  to  objective  nature,  and  in  faultless  perspec¬ 
tive,  by  the  cultivation  of  the  objective  faculties  alone ; 
but  his  work  will  lack  that  subtle  something,  that  name¬ 
less  charm,  which  causes  a  canvas  to  glow  with  beauty,  and 
each  particular  figure  to  become  instinct  with  life  and 
action.  No  artist  can  successfully  compose  a  picture  who 
cannot  see  “  in  his  mind’s  eye  ”  the  perfected  picture  be¬ 
fore  he  touches  his  pencil  to  canvas  ;  and  just  in  proportion 
to  his  cultivation  of  the  subjective  faculties  will  he  be  able 
thus  to  see  his  picture.  Of  course  these  remarks  will  be 
understood  to  presuppose  an  objective  art  education.  No 
man,  by  the  mere  cultivation  or  exercise  of  his  subjective 
faculties,  can  become  a  great  artist,  any  more  than  an  ig¬ 
noramus,  by  going  into  a  hypnotic  trance,  can  speak  the 
language  of  a  Webster.  All  statements  to  the  contrary  are 
merely  the  exaggerations  of  inaccurate  observers.  Genius 
in  art,  as  in  everything  else,  is  the  result  of  the  harmonious 
cultivation  and  synchronous  action  of  both  characteristics 
of  the  dual  mind. 

In  art,  as  in  poetry,  the  undue  predominance  of  the  sub¬ 
jective  mind  is  apt  to  work  disastrously.  No  better  illustra¬ 
tion  of  this  is  now  recalled  than  is  furnished  by  the  works  of 
Fuseli  or  of  Blake  :  — 

“  Look,”  says  Dendy,*  “  on  those  splendid  illustrations  of 
the  Gothic  poets  by  the  eccentric,  the  half-mad  Fuseli.  Look 
on  the  wild  pencillings  of  Blake,  another  poet-painter,  and  you 
will  be  assured  that  they  were  ghost-seers.  An  intimate  friend 
of  Blake  has  told  me  the  strangest  tales  of  his  visions.  In  one 
of  his  reveries  he  witnessed  the  whole  ceremony  of  a  ® 
funeral,  which  he  peopled  with  mourners  and  mutes,  and  de¬ 
scribed  with  high  poetic  beauty.  He  was  engaged,  in  one  o 
these  moods,  in  painting  King  Edward  L,  who  was  sitting  to 
him  for  his  picture.  While  they  were  conversing,  Wallace  sud- 


1  Philosophy  of  Mystery,  p.  93- 


58  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMEHA. 

denly  presented  himself  on  the  field,  and  by  this  uncourteous  in¬ 
trusion  marred  the  studies  of  the  painter  for  that  day.  .  .  .  Blake 
was  a  visionary,”  continues  our  author,  “  and  thought  his  fan¬ 
cies  real ;  he  was  mad.” 

The  writer  once  knew  an  artist  who  had  the  power  to 
enter  the  subjective  condition  at  will ;  and  in  this  state  he 
could  cause  his  visions  to  be  projected  upon  the  canvas 
before  him.  He  declared  that  his  mental  pictures  thus 
formed  were  perfect  in  detail  and  color,  and  all  that  he  had 
to  do  to  fix  them  was  to  paint  the  corresponding  colors  over 
the  subjective  picture.  He,  too,  thought  his  fancies  real ; 
he  believed  that  spirits  projected  the  pictures  upon  the 
canvas. 

The  foregoing  cases  represent  a  class  of  artists  whose  sub¬ 
jective  faculties  are  uncontrolled  by  the  objective  mind,  — 
an  abnormal  condition,  which,  if  it  found  expression  in 
words  instead  of  pigments,  would  stamp  the  subject  as  a 
candidate  for  the  lunatic  asylum. 

Fortunately,  most  artists  have  their  fancies  more  under 
control ;  or,  more  properly  speaking,  they  are  aware  that  their 
visions  are  evoked  by  their  own  volition.  This  power  va¬ 
ries  with  different  individuals,  but  all  true  artists  possess  it 
in  a  greater  or  less  degree.  An  extraordinary  manifestation 
of  this  power  is  reported  by  Combe.  The  artist  was  noted 
for  the  rapidity  of  his  work,  and  was  extremely  popular  on 
account  of  the  fidelity  of  his  portraits,  and  especially  be¬ 
cause  he  never  required  more  than  one  sitting  of  his  patron. 
His  method,  as  divulged  by  himself,  was  as  follows  :  — 

“  When  a  sitter  came,  I  looked  attentively  on  him  for  half 
an  hour,  sketching  from  time  to  time  on  the  canvas.  I  did  not 
require  a  longer  sitting.  I  removed  the  canvas  and  passed  to 
another  person.  When  I  wished  to  continue  the  first  portrait,  I 
recalled  the  man  to  my  mind.  I  placed  him  on  the  chair,  where 
I  perceived  him  as  distinctly  as  though  really  there,  and,  I  may 
add,  in  form  and  color  more  decidedly  brilliant.  I  looked  from 
time  to  time  at  the  imaginary  figure,  and  went  on  painting,  oc¬ 
casionally  stopping  to  examine  the  picture  exactly  as  though 
the  original  were  before  me ;  whenever  I  looked  towards  the 
chair  I  saw  the  man.” 


SUBJECTIVE  MEMORY.  59 

In  this  way  he  was  enabled  to  paint  over  three  hundred 
portraits  in  one  year. 

It  is  seldom  that  subjective  power  is  manifested  in  this 
particular  manner.  It  may  be  added,  however,  that,  given 
an  artist  for  a  subject,  the  same  phenomena  can  be  repro¬ 
duced  at  will  by  the  ordinary  processes  of  hypnotism.  The 
most  common  manifestations  of  the  power  are  not  so  easily 
recognized  or  distinguished  from  ordinary  mental  activity ; 
but  every  artist  will  bear  witness  that  there  are  times  when 
he  works  with  extraordinary  ease  and  rapidity,  when  the 
work  almost  seems  to  do  itself,  when  there  seems  to  be  a 
force  outside  of  himself  which  impels  him  on,  when,  to 
use  the  common  expression  to  define  the  mental  condition, 
he  feels  that  he  is  “  inspired.”  It  is  then  that  the  artist 
does  his  best  work.  It  is  under  these  mental  conditions 
that  his  work  is  characterized  by  that  subtle,  indefinite 
charm  vaguely  expressed  by  the  word  “  feeling.” 

Another  class  of  persons  who  possess  the  faculty  of  evok¬ 
ing  at  will  the  powers  of  the  subjective  mind  are  the  great 
orators,  such  as  Patrick  Henry,  Charles  Phillips  the  Irish 
orator,  Henry  Clay,  Daniel  Webster,  and  many  others,  to 
say  nothing  of  that  numerous  class  of  purely  subjective 
orators  known  to  spiritists  as  trance,  or  inspirational, 
speakers.  The  student  of  the  life  of  Patrick  Henry  will 
not  fail  to  see  that  his  whole  history  is  an  illustration  of  the 
pertinency  of  these  remarks.  It  is  related  of  Clay  that  on 
one  occasion  he  was  unexpectedly  called  upon  to  answer 
an  opponent  who  had  addressed  the  Senate  on  a  question 
in  which  Clay  was  deeply  interested.  The  latter  felt  too 
unwell  to  reply  at  length.  It  seemed  imperative,  however, 
that  he  should  say  something ;  and  he  exacted  a  promise 
from  a  friend,  who  sat  behind  him,  that  he  would  stop  him 
at  the  end  of  ten  minutes.  Accordingly,  at  the  expiration 
of  the  prescribed  time  the  friend  gently  pulled  the  skirts 
of  Mr.  Clay’s  coat.  No  attention  was  paid  to  the  hint,  and 
after  a  brief  time  it  was  repeated  a  little  more  emphatically. 
Still  Clay  paid  no  attention,  and  it  was  again  repeated. 
Then  a  pin  was  brought  into  requisition ;  but  Clay  was  by 


60 


THE  LA  IV  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


that  time  thoroughly  aroused,  and  was  pouring  forth  a  tor¬ 
rent  of  eloquence.  The  pin  was  inserted  deeper  and 
deeper  into  the  orator’s  leg  without  eliciting  any  response, 
until  his  friend  gave  it  up  in  despair.  Finally  Mr.  Clay 
happened  to  glance  at  the  clock,  and  saw  that  he  had 
been  speaking  two  hours;  whereupon  he  fell  back  into 
his  friend’s  arms,  completely  overcome  by  exhaustion,  up¬ 
braiding  his  friend  severely  for  not  stopping  him  at  the 
time  prescribed. 

The  fact  that  Mr.  Clay,  on  that  occasion,  made  one  of 
the  ablest  speeches  of  his  life,  two  hours  in  length,  at  a  time 
when  he  felt  almost  too  ill  to  rise  to  his  feet,  and  that  his  body 
at  the  time  was  in  a  condition  of  perfect  anesthesia,  is  a 
splendid  illustration  of  the  synchronous  action  of  the  two 
minds,  and  also  of  the  perfect  control  exercised  by  the 
subjective  mind  over  the  functions  and  sensations  of  the 
body. 

There  is,  perhaps,  no  better  description  on  record  of  the 
sensations  of  a  speaker,  when  the  synchronous  action  of  the 
two  minds  is  perfect,  than  that  given  by  Daniel  Webster. 
A  friend  had  asked  him  how  it  happened  that  he  was  able, 
without  preparation,  to  make  such  a  magnificent  effort 
when  he  replied  to  Hayne.  The  reply  was  (quoting  from 
memory)  substantially  as  follows :  “  In  the  first  place,  I 
have  made  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  the  study 
of  my  life  ;  and  on  that  occasion  it  seemed  to  me  that  all 
that  I  had  ever  heard  or  read  on  the  subject  under  discus¬ 
sion  was  passing  like  a  panorama  before  me,  arranged  in 
perfectly  logical  order  and  sequence,  and  that  all  I  had  to 
do  was  to  cull  a  thunderbolt  and  hurl  it  at  him.” 

Two  important  conclusions  are  deducible  from  the  premi¬ 
ses  here  laid  down.  The  first  is  that  it  is  essential  to  the 
highest  mental  development  that  the  objective  and  subjec¬ 
tive  faculties  be  cultivated  harmoniously,  if  the  latter  are 
cultivated  at  all. 

The  second  conclusion  is  of  the  most  transcendent  inter¬ 
est  and  importance.  It  is  that  the  subjective  mind  should 
never  be  allowed  to  usurp  control  of  the  dual  mental  organi- 


SUBJECTIVE  MEMOS  V 


6l 


zation.  Important  as  are  its  functions  and  transcendent  as 
are  its  powers,  it  is  hedged  about  with  such  limitations  that 
it  must  be  subjected  to  the  imperial  control  of  the  objective 
mind,  which  alone  is  endowed  with  the  power  to  reason  by 
all  methods. 

To  sum  up  in  a  few  words  :  To  believe  in  the  reality  of 
subjective  visions  is  to  give  the  subjective  mind  control  of 
the  dual  mental  organization ;  and  to  give  the  subjective 
mind  such  control  is  for  Reason  to  abdicate  her  throne. 
The  suggestions  of  the  subjective  mind  then  become  the 
controlling  power.  The  result,  in  its  mildest  form  of  mani¬ 
festation,  is  a  mind  filled  with  the  grossest  superstitions,  —  a 
mind  which,  like  the  untutored  mind  of  the  savage,  “  sees 
God  in  clouds,  and  hears  him  in  the  wind.”  Its  ultimate 
form  of  manifestation  is  insanity. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


PERCEPTION  OF  THE  FIXED  LAWS  OF  NATURE. 

Three  Sub-classes  of  Mental  Phenomena.  —  Mathematical  Prodigies. 

—  Musical  Prodigies.  —  Measurement  of  Time.  —  Distinction  be¬ 
tween  Results  of  Objective  Education  and  Intuitive  Perception. — 
Zerah  Colburn,  the  Mathematical  Prodigy.  —  The  Lightning  Cal¬ 
culator. —  Blind  Tom,  the  Musical  Prodigy.  —  The  Origin  and 
Uses  of  Music.  —  East  Indian  Fakirs.  —  Measurement  of  Time. — 
The  Power  possessed  by  Animals.  —  Illustrative  Incidents.  — 
Hypnotic  Subjects. — Jouffroy’s  Testimony.  —  Bernheim’s  Views. 

—  Practical  Observations.  —  The  Normal  Functions  of  Objective 
Intelligence.  —  The  Limitations  of  Subjective  Intelligence  pertain 
to  its  Earthly  State  only.  —  Its  Kinship  to  God  demonstrated  by 
its  Limitations.  —  Omniscience  cannot  reason  inductively.  —  In¬ 
duction  is  Inquiry.  —  Perception  the  Attribute  of  Omniscience.  — 
Conclusions  regarding  the  Power  of  the  Soul. 


HERE  are  three  other  sub-classes  of  subjective  mental 


*  phenomena  which  must  be  grouped  by  themselves, 
inasmuch  as  they  are  governed  by  a  law  which  does  not 
pertain  to  the  classes  mentioned  in  the  preceding  chapter, 
although  there  are  some  characteristics  which  are  common 
to  them  all.  The  first  of  these  classes  of  phenomena  is 
manifested  in  mathematical  prodigies ;  the  second  in  mu¬ 
sical  prodigies ;  and  the  third  pertains  to  the  measurement 
of  time. 

The  important  distinction  to  be  observed  between  the 
phenomena  described  in  the  preceding  chapter  and  those 
pertaining  to  mathematics,  music,  and  the  measurement  oi 
time,  consists  in  the  fact  that  in  the  former  everything 
depends  upon  objective  education,  whilst  the  latter  are 


PERCEPTION  OF  THE  FIXED  LA  WS  OF  NA  TURE.  63 

apparently  produced  by  the  exercise  of  inherent  powers 
of  the  subjective  mind. 

In  order  not  to  be  misunderstood  it  must  be  here  stated 
that  on  all  subjects  of  human  knowledge  not  governed  by 
fixed  laws,  the  subjective  mind  is  dependent  for  its  infor¬ 
mation  upon  objective  education.  In  other  words,  it  knows 
only  what  has  been  imparted  to  it  by  and  through  the  ob¬ 
jective  senses  or  the  operations  of  the  objective  mind. 
Thus,  its  knowledge  of  the  contents  of  books  can  only  be 
acquired  by  objective  methods  of  education.  Its  wonder¬ 
ful  powers  of  acquiring  and  assimilating  such  knowledge  are 
due  to  its  perfect  memory  of  all  that  has  been  imparted  to 
it  by  objective  education,  aided  by  its  powers  of  memory 
and  of  logical  arrangement  of  the  subject-matter.  Leaving 
clairvoyance  and  thought-transference  out  of  consideration 
for  the  present,  the  principle  may  be  stated  thus :  The 
subjective  mind  cannot  know,  by  intuition,  the  name  of 
a  person,  or  a  geographical  location,  or  a  fact  in  human 
history.  But  it  does  know,  by  intuition,  that  two  and  two 
make  four. 

No  one  without  an  objective  education  can,  by  the  de¬ 
velopment  of  the  subjective  faculties  alone,  become  a  great 
poet,  or  a  great  artist,  or  a  great  orator,  or  a  great  states¬ 
man.  But  he  may  be  a  great  mathematician  or  a  great 
musician,  independently  of  objective  education  or  train¬ 
ing,  by  the  development  of  the  subjective  faculties  alone. 
Many  facts  are  on  record  which  demonstrate  this  proposi¬ 
tion.  Hundreds  of  instances  might  be  cited  showing  to 
what  a  prodigious  extent  the  mathematical  and  musical 
faculties  can  be  developed  in  persons,  not  only  without  ob¬ 
jective  training,  but,  in  some  instances,  without  a  brain 
capable  of  receiving  any  considerable  objective  education. 

Mathematical  prodigies  of  the  character  mentioned  are 
numerous ;  one  of  the  most  remarkable  was  the  famous 
Zerah  Colburn.  The  following  account  of  his  early  career, 
published  when  he  was  yet  under  eight  years  of  age,  is 
taken  from  the  “Annual  Register”  of  1812,  an  English 
publication,  and  will  serve  to  illustrate  the  proposition  : 


64 


THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMEHA. 


“  The  attention  of  the  philosophical  world  has  been  lately  at¬ 
tracted  by  the  most  singular  phenomenon  in  the  history  of  human 
mind  that  perhaps  ever  existed.  It  is  the  case  of  a  child,  under 
eight  years  of  age,  who,  without  any  previous  knowledge  of  the 
common  rules  of  arithmetic,  or  even  of  the  use  and  power  of 
the  Arabic  numerals,  and  without  having  given  any  attention  to 
the  subject,  possesses,  as  if  by  intuition,  the  singular  faculty  of 
solving  a  great  variety  of  arithmetical  questions  by  the  mere 
operation  of  the  mind,  and  without  the  usual  assistance  of  any 
visible  symbol  or  contrivance. 

“  The  name  of  the  child  is  Zerah  Colburn,  who  was  born  at 
Cabut  (a  town  lying  at  the  head  of  the  Onion  River,  in  Ver¬ 
mont,  in  the  United  States  of  America),  on  the  ist  of  Septem¬ 
ber,  1804.  About  two  years  ago,  —  August,  1810,  —  although 
at  that  time  not  six  years  of  age,  he  first  began  to  show  these 
wonderful  powers  of  calculation  which  have  since  so  much  at¬ 
tracted  the  attention  and  excited  the  astonishment  of  every  per¬ 
son  who  has  witnessed  his  extraordinary  abilities.  The  discovery 
was  made  by  accident.  His  father,  who  had  not  given  him  any 
other  instruction  than  such  as  was  to  be  obtained  at  a  small 
school  established  in  that  unfrequented  and  remote  part  of  the 
country,  and  which  did  not  include  either  writing  or  ciphering, 
was  much  surprised  one  day  to  hear  him  repeating  the  products 
of  several  numbers.  Struck  with  amazement  at  the  circum¬ 
stance,  he  proposed  a  variety  of  arithmetical  questions  to  him, 
all  of  which  the  child  solved  with  remarkable  facility  and  cor¬ 
rectness.  The  news  of  the  infant  prodigy  was  soon  circulated 
through  the  neighborhood,  and  many  persons  came  from  dis¬ 
tant  parts  to  witness  so  singular  a  circumstance.  The  father, 
encouraged  by  the  unanimous  opinion  of  all  who  came  to  see 
him,  was  induced  to  undertake  with  this  child  the  tour  of  the 
United  States.  They  were  everywhere  received  with  the  most 
flattering  expressions,  and  in  several  towns  which  they  visited, 
various  plans  were  suggested  to  educate  and  bring  up  the  child 
free  from  all  expense  to  his  family.  Yielding,  however,  to  the 
pressing  solicitations  of  his  friends,  and  urged  by  the  most  re¬ 
spectable  and  powerful  recommendations,  as  well  as  by  a  view 
to  his  son’s  more  complete  education,  the  father  has  brought 
the  child  to  this  country,  where  they  arrived  on  the  12th  of 
May  last ;  and  the  inhabitants  of  this  metropolis  have  for  the 
last  three  months  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing  and  examining 
this  wonderful  phenomenon,  and  verifying  the  reports  that  have 
been  circulated  respecting  him.  Many  persons  of  the  first 
eminence  for  their  knowledge  in  mathematics,  and  well  known 


PERCEPTION  OF  THE  FIXED  LAWS  OF  NATURE.  65 


for  their  philosophical  inquiries,  have  made  a  point  of  seeing 
and  conversing  with  him,  and  they  have  all  been  struck  with 
astonishment  at  his  extraordinary  powers.  It  is  correctly  true, 
as  stated  of  him,  that  he  will  not  only  determine  with  the 
greatest  facility  and  despatch  the  exact  number  of  minutes  or 
seconds  in  any  given  period  of  time,  but  will  also  solve  any 
other  question  of  a  similar  kind.  He  will  tell  the  exact  product 
arising  from  the  multiplication  of  any  number  consisting  of  two, 
three,  or  four  figures  by  any  other  number  consisting  of  the  like 
number  of  figures ;  or  any  number  consisting  of  six  or  seven 
places  of  figures  being  proposed,  he  will  determine  with  equal 
expedition  and  ease  all  the  factors  of  which  it  is  composed. 
This  singular  faculty  consequently  extends  not  only  to  the 
raising  of  powers,  but  to  the  extraction  of  the  square  and  cube 
roots  of  the  number  proposed,  and  likewise  to  the  means  of 
determining  whether  it  is  a  prime  number  (or  a  number  incapa¬ 
ble  of  division  by  any  other  number) ;  for  which  case  there  does 
not  exist  at  present  any  general  rule  amongst  mathematicians. 
All  these  and  a  variety  of  other  questions  connected  therewith 
are  answered  by  this  child  with  such  promptness  and  accuracy 
(and  in  the  midst  of  his  juvenile  pursuits)  as  to  astonish  every 
person  who  has  visited  him. 

“  At  a  meeting  of  his  friends,  which  was  held  for  the  purpose 
of  concerting  the  best  methods  of  promoting  the  views  of  the 
father,  this  child  undertook  and  completely  succeeded  in  raising 
the  number  8  progressively  up  to  the  sixteenth  power.  And 
in  naming  the  last  result,  viz.,  281,474,976,710,656!  he  was 
right  in  every  figure.  He  was  then  tried  as  to  other  numbers 
consisting  of  one  figure,  all  of  which  he  raised  (by  actual  mul¬ 
tiplication,  and  not  by  memory)  as  high  as  the  tenth  power, 
with  so  much  facility  and  despatch  that  the  person  appointed 
to  take  down  the  results  was  obliged  to  enjoin  him  not  to  be  so 
rapid.  With  respect  to  numbers  consisting  of  two  figures,  he 
would  raise  some  of  them  to  the  sixth,  seventh,  and  eighth 
power,  but  not  always  with  equal  facility ;  for  the  larger  the 
products  became,  the  more  difficult  he  found  it  to  proceed.  He 
was  asked  the  square  root  of  106,929;  and  before  the  number 
could  be  written  down,  he  immediately  answered,  327.  He  was 
then  required  to  name  the  cube  root  of  268,336,125;  and  with 
equal  facility  and  promptness  he  replied,  645.  Various  other 
questions  of  a  similar  nature,  respecting  the  roots  and  powers 
of  very  high  numbers,  were  proposed  by  several  of  the  gentle¬ 
men  present,  to  all  of  which  he  answered  in  a  similar  manner. 
One  of  the  party  requested  him  to  name  the  factors  which  pro- 

5 


66 


THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  FHENOMEHa. 


duccd  the  number  247,483  :  this  lie  immediately  did  by  mention¬ 
ing  the  numbers  941  and  263,  — which,  indeed,  are  the  only  two 
numbers  that  will  produce  it.  Another  of  them  proposed  171,3951 
and  he  named  the  following  factors  as  the  only  ones,  viz.,  5  X 
34,279,  7  X  24,485,  59  X  2,905,  83  X  2,065,  35  X  4,897,  295  X 
581,  and  413  X  415-  He  was  then  asked  to  give  the  factors  of 
36,083  ;  but  he  immediately  replied  that  it  had  none,  —  which  in 
fact  was  the  case,  as  36,083  is  a  prime  number.  Other  numbers 
were  indiscriminately  proposed  to  him,  and  he  always  succeeded 
in  giving  the  correct  factors,  except  in  the  case  of  prime  numbers, 
which  he  discovered  almost  as  soon  as  proposed.  One  of  the 
gentlemen  asked  him  how  many  minutes  there  were  in  forty- 
eight  years;  and  before  the  question  could  be  written  down  he 
replied,  25,228,800 ;  and  instantly  added  that  the  number  of 
seconds  in  the  same  period  was  1,513,728,000.  Various  questions 
of  the  like  kind  were  put  to  him,  and  to  all  of  them  he  answered 
with  equal  facility  and  promptitude,  so  as  to  astonish  every  one 
present,  and  to  excite  a  desire  that  so  extraordinary  a  faculty 
should,  if  possible,  be  rendered  more  extensive  and  useful.  It 
was  the  wish  of  the  gentlemen  present  to  obtain  a  knowledge  of 
the  method  by  which  the  child  was  enabled  to  answer  with  s») 
much  facility  and  correctness  the  questions  thus  put  to  him; 
but  to  all  their  inquiries  on  the  subject  (and  he  was  closely  ex¬ 
amined  on  this  point)  he  was  unable  to  give  them  any  informa¬ 
tion.  He  persistently  declared  (and  every  observation  that  was 
made  seemed  to  justify  the  assertion)  that  he  did  not  know  how 
the  answer  came  into  his  mind.  In  the  act  of  multiplying  two 
numbers  together,  and  in  the  raising  of  powers,  it  was  evident, 
not  only  from  the  motion  of  his  lips,  but  also  from  some 
singular  facts  which  will  be  hereafter  mentioned,  that  some 
operations  were  going  forward  in  his  mind ;  yet  that  operation 
could  not,  from  the  readiness  with  which  the  answers  were  fur¬ 
nished,  be  at  all  allied  to  the  usual  mode  of  proceeding  with  such 
subjects ;  and  moreover  he  is  entirely  ignorant  of  the  common 
rules  of  arithmetic,  and  cannot  perform  upon  paper  a  simple 
sum  in  multiplication  or  division.  But  in  the  extraction  of 
roots  and  in  mentioning  the  factors  of  high  numbers,  it  does 
not  appear  that  any  operation  can  take  place,  since  he  will  give 
the  answer  immediately,  or  in  a  very  few  seconds,  where  it 
would  require,  according  to  the  ordinary  method  of  solution,  a 
very  difficult  and  laborious  calculation ;  and,  moreover,  the 
knowledge  of  a  prime  number  cannot  be  obtained  by  any 
known  rule. 

“It  must  be  evident,  from  what  has  here  been  stated,  that 
the  singular  faculty  which  this  child  possesses  is  not  altogether 


PERCEPTION  OF  THE  FIXED  LAIVS  OF  NATURE.  67 

dependent  on  his  memory.  In  the  multiplication  of  numbers  and 
in  the  raising  of  powers,  he  is  doubtless  considerably  assisted 
by  that  remarkable  quality  of  the  mind;  and  in  this  respect  he 
might  be  considered  as  bearing  some  resemblance  (if  the  differ¬ 
ence  of  age  did  not  prevent  the  justness  of  the  comparison)  to 
the  celebrated  Jedidiah  Buxton,  and  other  persons  of  similar 
note.  But  in  the  extraction  of  the  roots  of  numbers  and  in  de¬ 
termining  their  factors  (if  any),  it  is  clear  to  all  those  wno  have 
witnessed  the  astonishing  quickness  and  accuracy  of  this  child 
that  the  memory  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  process.  And  in 
this  particular  point  consists  the  remarkable  difference  between 
the  present  and  all  former  instances  of  an  apparently  similar 
kind.” 

The  latter  remark  above  quoted  would  not  apply  to  the 
present  day,  for  many  parallel  cases  have  been  reported 
within  the  present  decade. 

It  was  hoped  that  the  powers  of  this  child  would  develop 
by  education  ;  and  for  this  purpose  he  was  placed  in  school 
and  trained  in  objective  methods  of  mathematical  calcula¬ 
tion.  It  was  believed  that  when  his  mind  became  mature  he 
would  be  able  to  impart  to  others  the  process  by  which  his 
calculations  were  made.  But  his  friends  were  doomed  to 
disappointment.  His  powers  did  not  improve  by  objective 
training.  On  the  contrary,  they  deteriorated  just  in  pro¬ 
portion  to  his  efforts  in  that  direction,  and  his  pupils  de¬ 
rived  no  benefit  from  the  extraordinary  faculties  with  which 
he  was  endowed.  This  has  been  the  invariable  rule  in 
such  cases. 

A  few  years  ago  a  gentleman  travelled  through  this  coun¬ 
try  teaching  arithmetic.  He  was  known  as  the  “lightning 
calculator.”  His  powers  were  indeed  marv'ellous.  He 
could  add  a  column  of  as  many  numbers  as  could  be 
written  on  a  sheet  of  legal  cap,  by  casting  an  instantaneous 
glance  upon  the  page ;  but  he  succeeded  no  better  as  a 
teacher  than  thousands  of  others  who  could  not  add  a 
column  of  numbers  without  reading  every  figure  by  the 
usual  laborious,  objective  process.  He  could  give  no  ex¬ 
planation  of  his  powers  other  than  that  he  possessed  extra¬ 
ordinary  quickness  of  vision.  But  any  one  who  is  sufficiently 


68 


THE  LA  IE  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA 


acquainted  with  the  elements  of  optical  laws  to  be  aware 
that  in  the  light  of  a  flash  of  lightning  a  drop  of  falling  rain 
appears  to  be  suspended  motionless  in  the  air,  knows  that 
objective  vision  is  not  capable  of  such  rapid  transition  as 
to  enable  one  to  see  at  a  glance  each  particular  figure  in  a 
column  of  a  hundred  numbers.  When  to  this  is  added  the 
labor  of  calculating  the  relation  and  aggregate  values  of 
the  numbers,  the  conclusion  is  inevitable  that  such  powers 
are  not  given  to  our  objective  senses,  but  must  be  inherent 
in  the  human  soul,  and  beyond  the  range  of  objective 
explanation  or  comprehension. 

Musical  prodigies  furnish  further  illustrations  of  the  prin¬ 
ciple  involved.  Of  these  the  most  remarkable  is  the  negro 
idiot,  known  as  Blind  Tom.  This  person  was  not  only  blind 
from  birth,  but  was  little  above  the  brute  creation  in  point 
of  objective  intelligence  or  capacity  to  receive  objective  in¬ 
struction.  Yet  his  musical  capacity  was  prodigious.  Almost 
in  his  infancy  it  was  discovered  that  he  could  reproduce  on 
the  piano  any  piece  of  music  that  he  had  ever  heard.  A 
piece  of  music,  however  long  or  difficult,  once  heard,  seemed 
to  be  fixed  indelibly  in  his  memory,  and  usually  could  be  re¬ 
produced  with  a  surprising  degree  of  accuracy.  His  capa¬ 
city  for  improvisation  was  equally  great,  and  a  discordant 
note  rarely,  if  ever,  marred  the  harmony  of  his  measures. 

These  well  known  facts  of  Blind  Tom’s  history  furnish 
complete  illustrations,  —  first  of  the  perfection  of  subjective 
memory ;  and  second,  of  the  inherent  power  of  the  sub¬ 
jective  mind  to  grasp  the  laws  of  harmony  of  sounds ;  and 
that,  too,  independently  of  objective  education. 

Music  belongs  to  the  realm  of  the  subjective ;  it  is  a 
passion  of  the  human  soul,  and  it  may  be  safely  affirmed 
that  all  really  good  music  is  the  direct  product  of  the  sub¬ 
jective  mind.  It  is  true  that  there  is  much  so-called  music 
to  be  heard  which  is  the  product  of  the  objective  intelli¬ 
gence.  But  no  one  can  fail  to  recognize  its  origin,  from  its 
hard,  mechanical,  soulless  character  and  quality.  It  bears 
the  same  relation  to  the  product  of  the  subjective  mind  that 
mere  rhyme  does  to  the  poetry  of  a  Milton.  Music  is  at 


rERCEPTION  OF  THE  FIXED  LA  WS  OF  NA  TURE.  69 

once  the  legitimate  offspring  of  the  subjective  mind  and 
one  of  the  most  potent  means  of  inducing  the  subjective 
condition.  It  is  a  well-known  practice  of  so-called  “  spir¬ 
itual  mediums  ”  to  have  music  at  their  seances,  for  the  os¬ 
tensible  purpose  of  securing  the  “  harmonious  conditions  ” 
necessary  to  insure  a  successful  performance.  Their  theory 
is  that  the  music  harmonizes  the  audience,  and  that  by 
a  reflex  action  the  medium  is  favorably  affected.  It  is 
probable  that  such  would  be  the  effect  to  a  limited 
extent,  but  the  greatest  effect  is  direct  and  positive  upon 
the  medium. 

The  East  Indian  fakirs  invariably  invoke  the  aid  of  music 
to  enable  them  to  enter  the  subjective  state  when  they  are 
about  to  give  an  exhibition  of  occult  power.  In  fact,  the 
power  of  music  over  the  subjective  mind  is  practically  un¬ 
limited.  It  speaks  the  universal  language  of  the  soul,  and 
is  comprehended  alike  by  prince  and  by  peasant.  It  is  the 
most  powerful  auxiliary  of  love,  of  religion,  and  of  war.  It 
nerves  the  soldier  to  deeds  of  heroism,  and  soothes  his 
dying  moments.  It  inspires  alike  the  devotee  of  pleasure 
and  the  worshipper  of  God.  But  whilst  it  interprets  every 
human  emotion  and  embodies  the  inward  feelings  of  which 
all  other  arts  can  but  exhibit  the  outward  effect,  its  laws  are 
as  fixed  and  immutable  as  the  laws  of  mathematics. 

The  next  subdivision  or  branch  of  the  subject  pertains  to 
the  faculty  of  measuring  the  lapse  of  time.  This  power 
is  inherent  in  the  subjective  mind,  and  in  that  alone ;  the 
objective  mind,  per  se,  does  not  possess  it.  The  only 
means  by  which  the  objective  mind  can  measure  time  is  by 
the  exercise  of  the  physical  senses,  either  in  the  observa¬ 
tion  of  the  motions  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  or  of  some  other 
physical  object  or  phenomenon  which  objective  experience 
has  shown  to  be  a  safe  criterion  upon  which  to  base  an 
estimate. 

The  subjective  mind,  on  the  other  hand,  possesses  an 
inherent  power  in  that  direction,  independent  of  objective 
aids  or  the  exercise  of  reason.  It  is  possessed  by  man  in 
common  with  many  of  the  brute  creation.  It  is  strikingly 


70 


THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


exhibited  in  dogs,  horses,  and  other  domestic  animals 
accustomed  to  regular  hours  of  employment. 

A  friend  of  the  writer  once  owned  a  large  plantation  in 
one  of  the  Southwestern  States,  upon  which  he  worked  a 
large  number  of  mules.  They  were  regularly  employed  on 
week-days,  but  on  Sundays  they  were  turned  into  a  corral 
and  allowed  to  rest.  On  regular  work- days  they  were 
tractable  and  easily  handled ;  but  if  one  was  wanted  for 
a  Sunday  excursion  it  was  with  the  greatest  difficulty  that 
he  could  be  caught  or  made  to  perform  any  labor  whatever. 

An  English  gentleman,  well  known  to  the  writer,  relates 
a  curious  anecdote  of  a  dog  which  was  raised  in  his  family. 
After  the  dog  had  come  to  maturity,  one  of  the  sons  mar¬ 
ried  and  set  up  an  establishment  about  three  miles  from  the 
parental  mansion.  It  was  the  habit  of  the  family  to  see 
that  the  dog  was  fed  regularly,  immediately  after  each 
meal,  with  the  scraps  from  the  table.  At  the  home  man¬ 
sion  the  Sunday  dinner-hour  was  the  same  as  on  week-days, 
but  was  just  two  hours  earlier  than  that  adopted  at  the 
son’s  establishment.  This  fact  the  dog  by  some  means  be¬ 
came  acquainted  with,  and  he  never  failed  to  take  advan¬ 
tage  of  the  information.  Every  Sunday  he  would  wait 
patiently  for  the  home  dinner ;  and  having  finished  it,  he 
would  promptly  take  his  departure,  and  never  failed  to  put 
in  an  appearance  at  the  son’s  house  on  time  for  dinner, 
where  he  was  sure  to  be  welcomed  and  entertained  as  an 
honored  guest.  On  week-days  the  dinner-hour  at  the  two 
houses  was  the  same,  and  consequently  he  never  made  a 
pilgrimage  in  search  of  an  extra  meal  on  any  day  but 
Sunday. 

A  favorite  mastiff  in  the  family  of  the  writer  has  taken 
upon  himself  the  regulation  of  the  household  affairs.  He 
awakens  the  family  in  the  morning  at  a  certain  hour,  and 
insists  upon  promptitude  in  rising.  At  precisely  twelve 
o’clock  he  notifies  the  family  that  it  is  time  to  feed  the 
horse,  and  will  give  no  one  any  peace  until  his  friend’s 
wants  are  supplied.  His  own  meal  seems  to  be  a  second¬ 
ary  consideration.  At  three  o’clock  he  notifies  his  mis- 


PERCEPTION  OF  THE  FIXED  LAWS  OP  NATURE.  Jl 


tress  that  it  is  time  to  visit  the  kitchen  and  give  directions 
for  preparing  dinner.  It  is  not  because  he  expects  to  be 
fed  at  that  time,  for  he  is  never  fed  until  the  family  have 
dined,  two  hours  later.  At  nine  o’clock  he  rises  from  his 
rug  on  the  library  floor,  and  insists  upon  a  visit  to  the 
kitchen  for  a  lunch.  It  is  rare  that  he  varies  five  minutes 
from  the  regular  hours  above  noted,  but  is  generally  within 
a  minute. 

This  power  is  exhibited  in  its  perfection  in  hypnotic 
subjects  and  in  ordinary  sleep.  It  is  that  faculty  which 
enables  one  to  awake  at  an  appointed  hour  in  the  night, 
when,  before  going  to  sleep,  he  has  made  a  firm  resolution 
to  do  so.  M.  Jouffroy,  one  of  the  most  celebrated  philoso¬ 
phers  of  France,  in  speaking  of  this  subject  says  ;  — 

“  I  have  this  power  in  perfection,  but  I  notice  that  I  lose  it 
if  I  depend  on  any  one  calling  me.  In  this  latter  case  my  mind 
does  not  take  the  trouble  of  reasoning  the  time  or  of  listening  to 
the  clock.  But  in  the  former  it  is  necessary  that  it  do  so,  other¬ 
wise  the  phenomenon  is  inexplicable.  Every  one  has  made  or 
can  make  this  experiment.” 

M.  Jouffroy  is  doubtless  mistaken  in  supposing  that  the 
mind  is  necessarily  employed  in  watching  the  clock ;  for 
the  experiment  is  just  as  successful  in  the  absence  of  any 
timepiece.  Besides,  the  fact  that  animals  possess  the 
faculty  shows  that  it  is  an  inherent  attribute  of  the  sub¬ 
jective  mind.  It  is  the  lapse  of  time  that  is  noted  by  men 
as  well  as  by  animals,  and  is  wholly  independent  of  arti¬ 
ficial  methods  or  instruments  for  marking  the  divisions  of 
time.  Every  one  possesses  this  faculty  in  a  greater  or  less 
degree,  and  the  subject  need  not,  therefore,  be  enlarged 
upon. 

As  before  intimated,  hypnotic  subjects  possess  in  a  very 
remarkable  degree  the  faculty  of  noting  the  lapse  of  time. 
On  this  subject  Professor  Bernheim  ^  says  :  — 

“  If  a  somnambulist  is  made  to  promise  during  his  sleep  that 
he  will  come  back  on  such  and  such  a  day,  at  such  and  such  an 


*  Suggestive  Therapeutics,  p.  37. 


72 


THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


hour,  he  will  almost  surely  return  on  the  day  and  at  the  hour, 
although  he  has  no  remembrance  of  his  promise  when  he  wakes 
up.  I  made  A  say  that  he  would  come  back  to  me  in  thirteen 
days,  at  ten  o’clock  in  the  morning.  He  remembered  nothing 
when  he  waked.  On  the  thirteenth  day,  at  ten  o’clock  in  the 
morning,  he  appeared,  having  come  three  kilometres  from  his 
house  to  the  hospital.  He  had  been  working  in  the  foundries 
all  night,  went  to  bed  at  six  in  the  morning,  and  woke  up  at 
nine  with  the  idea  that  he  had  to  come  to  the  hospital  to  see 
me.  He  told  me  that  he  had  had  no  such  idea  on  the  preceding 
days,  and  did  not  know  that  he  had  to  come  to  see  me.  It 
came  into  his  head  just  at  the  time  when  he  ought  to  carry  it 
out.” 

It  is  also  well  known  to  all  hypnotists  that  subjects  in  a 
hypnotic  sleep  will  awaken  at  any  hour  prescribed  to  them 
by  the  operator,  seldom  varying  more  than  five  minutes 
from  the  time  set,  even  when  the  sleep  is  prolonged  for 
hours.  If  the  subject  is  commanded  to  sleep,  say,  ten  or 
fifteen  minutes,  he  will  generally  awaken  exactly  on  time. 
This  fact  also  is  universally  recognized  by  those  familiar 
with  hypnotic  phenomena,  and  the  subject  need  not  be 
further  illustrated. 

In  concluding  this  chapter,  it  is  impossible  to  refrain 
from  indulging  in  a  few  general  observations  regarding  the 
conclusions  derivable  from  the  peculiar  characteristics  of 
the  subjective  intelligence  thus  far  noted.  We  have  seen 
that  certain  phenomena  depend  for  their  perfect  develop¬ 
ment  upon  objective  education,  and  that  certain  other 
phenomena  are  exhibited  in  perfection  independent  of  ob¬ 
jective  education.  In  other  words,  certain  powers  are  in¬ 
herent  in  the  subjective  intelligence.  These  powers  appear 
to  pertain  to  the  comprehension  of  the  laws  of  Nature.  We 
have  seen  that,  under  certain  conditions,  the  subjective 
mind  comprehends  by  intuition  the  laws  of  mathematics. 
It  comprehends  the  laws  of  harmony  of  sounds,  indepen¬ 
dently  of  objective  education.  By  true  artists  the  laws  of 
the  harmony  of  colors  are  also  perceived  intuitively.*  These 

^  It  must  be  here  remarked  that  although  the  laws  pertaining 
to  the  harmony  of  colors  may  be  comprehended  by  intuition,  yet  an 


PERCEPTION  OF  THE  FIXED  LAWS  OF  NATURE.  73 

facts  have  been  again  and  again  demonstrated.  It  would 
seem,  therefore,  to  be  a  just  conclusion  that  the  subjective 
mind,  untrammelled  by  its  objective  environment,  will  be  en¬ 
abled  to  comprehend  all  the  laws  of  Nature,  to  perceive,  to 
know  all  truth,  independent  of  the  slow,  laborious  process 
of  induction. 

We  are  so  accustomed  to  boast  of  the  “  god-like  reason  ” 
with  which  man  is  endowed,  that  the  proposition  that  the 
subjective  mind  —  the  soul  —  of  man  is  incapable  of  exer¬ 
cising  that  function,  in  what  we  regard  as  the  highest  form 
of  reasoning,  seems,  at  first  glance,  to  be  a  limitation  of  the 
intellectual  power  of  the  soul,  and  inconsistent  with  what 
we  have  been  accustomed  to  regard  as  the  highest  attributes 
of  human  intelligence.  But  a  moment’s  reflection  will  de¬ 
velop  the  fact  that  this  apparent  limitation  of  intellectual 
power  is,  in  reality,  a  god-like  attribute  of  mind.  God 
himself  cannot  reason  inductively.  Inductive  reasoning 
presupposes  an  inquiry,  a  search  after  knowledge,  an  ef¬ 
fort  to  arrive  at  correct  conclusions  regarding  something 
of  which  we  are  ignorant.  To  suppose  God  to  be  an  in¬ 
quirer,  a  seeker  after  knowledge,  by  finite  processes  of 
reasoning,  is  a  conception  of  the  Deity  which  negatives  his 
omniscience,  and  measures  Infinite  Intelligence  by  purely 
finite  standards.  For  our  boasted  “  god-like  reason  ”  is  of 
the  earth,  earthy.  It  is  the  noblest  attribute  of  the  finite 
mind,  it  is  true,  but  it  is  essentially  finite.  It  is  the  out¬ 
growth  of  our  objective  existence.  It  is  our  safest  guide  in 
the  walks  of  earthly  life.  It  is  our  faithful  monitor  and 
guardian  in  our  daily  struggle  with  our  physical  environment. 
It  is  our  most  reliable  auxiliary  in  our  efforts  to  penetrate 
the  secrets  of  Nature,  and  wrest  from  her  the  means  of  sub¬ 
sistence.  But  its  functions  cease  with  the  necessities  which 
called  it  into  existence ;  for  it  will  be  no  longer  useful  when 

objective  education  is  necessary  to  enable  the  artist  to  combine  the 
necessary  pigments  to  produce  the  colors  on  canvas,  and  to  perform 
the  other  mechanical  labor  necessary  to  place  the  paints  upon  the 
canvas  in  such  relations  as  to  produce  a  picture.  When  this  is 
acquired,  intuition  will  do  the  rest. 


74 


THE  LA  W  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


the  physical  form  has  perished,  and  the  veil  is  lifted  which 
hides  from  mortal  eyes  that  world  where  all  truth  is  revealed. 
Then  it  is  that  the  soul  —  the  subjective  mind  —  will  per¬ 
form  its  normal  functions,  untrammelled  by  the  physical 
form  which  imprisons  it  and  binds  it  to  earth,  and  in  its 
native  realm  of  truth,  unimpeded  by  the  laborious  processes 
of  finite  reasoning,  it  will  imbibe  all  truth  from  its  Eternal 
Source. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

EFFECTS  OF  ADVERSE  SUGGESTION. 


The  Subjective  Mind  Incapable  of  Controversial  Argument. — A 
Sceptical  Audience  demoralizes  it.  —  The  Presence  of  an 
Avowed  Sceptic  prevents  Successful  Exhibition  of  Subjective 
Phenomena.  —  Labouchere  and  Bishop.  —  T'he  Royal  Academy 
of  Medicine.  —  Its  Offer  to  Clairvoyants.  —  Failure  to  earn  Re¬ 
ward.  —  Harmonious  Conditions  required  by  Spiritists.  —  The 
Seybert  Commission.  —  Trance-Speaking  Mediums.  —  How  de¬ 
moralized.  —  Adverse  Suggestion  the  Cause  of  Failure  in  All 
Cases.  —  Possible  Lack  of  Telepathic  Conditions  in  Bishop’s 
Case.  —  General  Conclusions.  —  Failure  Consistent  with  Hon¬ 
esty  of  Mediums. 

Another  important  peculiarity  of  the  subjective  mind 
is  that  it  is  incapable  of  controversial  argument.  This 
subject  has  been  briefly  alluded  to  in  a  former  chapter;  but 
it  is  of  so  much  importance  that  a  more  extended  consider¬ 
ation  of  it  is  demanded,  inasmuch  as  it  affords  a  clear  ex¬ 
planation  of  various  phenomena  which  have  never  yet  been 
satisfactorily  accounted  for.  It  is  well  known  among  hyp¬ 
notists  that  it  is  very  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  make 
satisfactory  experiments  with  a  subject  in  the  presence  of 
a  sceptical  audience.  Especially  is  this  true  if  the  scep¬ 
ticism  is  open,  avowed,  and  aggressive.  It  is  also  well 
known  that,  when  a  subject  is  in  a  state  of  lucid  somnam¬ 
bulism,  no  satisfactory  results  can  be  obtained  if  any  one 
disputes  him,  or  attempts  an  argument,  or  accuses  him  of 
shamming,  or  of  a  want  of  good  faith.  Such  a  course 
always  results  in  great  distress  of  mind  on  the  part  of  the 


76  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


subject,  and  generally  in  restoring  him  to  normai  conscious¬ 
ness.  In  the  higher  phases  of  hypnotic  phenomena  this  pecu¬ 
liarity  is  still  more  marked.  In  exhibiting  the  phenomena 
of  clairvoyance  and  thought-transference,  or  mind-reading, 
it  is  next  to  impossible  to  obtain  good  results  in  the  pres¬ 
ence  of  an  avowed  sceptic.  The  controversy  between  Wash¬ 
ington  Irving  Bishop  and  Mr.  Labouchere  is  fresh  in  the 
minds  of  most  readers.  Mr.  Bishop  was  giving  successful 
exhibitions  of  his  wonderful  powers  in  public  assemblies 
and  in  private  circles  in  London.  He  had  demonstrated 
again  and  again  his  power  to  read  the  thoughts  of  others 
and  to  decipher  the  contents  of  sealed  envelopes  under  the 
strictest  test  conditions,  in  the  presence  of  many  competent 
and  trustworthy  observers.  In  the  height  of  his  success 
Mr.  Labouchere  came  out  in  his  paper  and  denounced  the 
whole  thing  as  a  humbug.  To  prove  his  sincerity  he  placed 
a  Bank  of  England  note  for  a  large  amount  in  a  sealed  en¬ 
velope,  and  offered  to  give  it  to  Mr.  Bishop  if  he  should 
correctly  read  the  number.  Repeated  trials  to  do  so  ended 
in  dismal  failure.  It  was  a  feat  that  he  had  successfully 
performed  a  thousand  times  before,  and  many  times  after¬ 
wards.  But  the  number  on  that  particular  bank-note  he 
never  could  decipher. 

In  1831  the  Royal  Academy  of  Medicine  of  France 
appointed  a  commission  to  investigate  the  subject  of  animal 
magnetism.  The  commission  was  composed  of  some  of  the 
ablest  scientists  of  the  Academy,  and  it  prosecuted  its  in¬ 
vestigations  until  1837,  when  it  made  its  report.  Amongst 
other  things  it  announced  that  it  had  demonstrated  the  fact 
that  some  mesmeric  subjects  possessed  clairvoyant  power; 
that  such  subjects  could,  with  their  eyes  “  exactly  closed  by 
the  fingers,”  distinguish  objects,  tell  the  color  and  number 
of  cards,  and  read  lines  of  a  book  opened  at  a  chance  page. 
Without  entering  into  the  details  of  the  controversy  that  fol¬ 
lowed  this  report,  it  is  sufficient  to  say  that  a  standing  offer 
of  a  large  sum  of  money  was  made  to  any  one  who  should 
demonstrate  the  reality  of  clairvoyant  power  in  the  presence 
of  a  committee  appointed  for  the  purpose.  It  is  said  that 


EFFECTS  OF  ADVERSE  SUGGESTION. 


77 


many  attempts  have  been  made  by  good  clairvoyants  to  earn 
this  money,  but  every  attempt  has  ended  in  total  failure. 
Volumes  might  be  written  detailing  such  tests  and  such 
failures. 

Exhibitions  of  the  phenomena  of  spiritism  are  constantly 
liable  to  utter  failure  in  the  presence  of  avowed  sceptics. 
Every  one  who  has  attended  a  “  spiritual  ”  seance  is 
aware  of  the  strict  regard  paid  to  securing  “  harmonious 
conditions ;  ”  and  all  know  how  dismal  is  the  failure  when 
such  conditions  cannot  be  obtained.  It  frequently  hap¬ 
pens  that  some  one  will  inadvertently  remark  that  “  spirits 
never  come  when  I  am  around ;  ”  and  in  nine  such  cases 
out  of  ten  the  stance  will  end  in  failure  when  such  a 
remark  is  made.  Any  argument  against  spiritism,  espe¬ 
cially  if  addressed  to  the  medium,  or  any  controversy  on 
the  subject  in  his  presence,  will  destroy  all  chance  of  a 
successful  exhibition.  Investigating  committees  nearly 
always  fail  to  observe  the  promised  phenomena  when  the 
character  and  objects  of  the  committee  are  known  to  the 
medium.  Thus,  the  Seybert  Commission,  a  majority  of 
whose  members  were  pronounced  sceptics,  utterly  failed 
to  witness  any  phenomena  which  might  not  be  produced 
by  legerdemain.  In  their  report  they  take  occasion  to 
say ;  — 


“  Our  experience  has  been  .  .  .  that  as  soon  as  an  investiga¬ 
tion,  worthy  of  the  name,  begins,  all  manifestations  of  spiritist 
power  cease.  .  .  .  Even  the  very  spirit  of  investigation,  or  of 
incredulity,  seems  to  exercise  a  chilling  effect  and  prevents  a 
successful  manifestation.”  ^ 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  last  sentence  betrays  the  fact 
that  the  writer  regards  “  the  spirit  of  investigation  ”  and 
“  the  spirit  of  incredulity  ”  as  synonymous  terms.  It  is 
certain  that  the  Seybert  Commission  as  a  body  did  so  re¬ 
gard  them,  and  made  no  effort  to  conceal  the  fact  from  the 
mediums  who  submitted  to  be  examined.  Every  medium 

*  Seybert  Commission,  Report,  p.  15. 


78  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 

whom  they  examined  was  made  fully  aware  of  the  incre¬ 
dulity  of  the  majority  of  the  Commission,  and  thus  every 
effort  to  produce  the  phenomena  failed. 

The  same  peculiarity  is  observed  in  trance-speaking  me¬ 
diums,  especially  in  those  who  speak  in  a  purely  subjective 
condition.  No  matter  how  great  is  their  flow  of  eloquence, 
or  how  perfect  their  command  of  their  subject,  they  utterly 
break  down  when  confronted  by  an  adverse  argument.  So 
well  is  this  peculiarity  known  that  their  friends  never  suffer 
them  to  be  interrupted. 

It  would  be  useless  to  multiply  instances  of  this  charac¬ 
ter.  It  is  sufficiently  evident  from  what  has  been  said  that 
one  invariable  result  follows  the  one  condition.  In  the  in¬ 
vestigation  of  physical  phenomena  the  scientific  observer 
would  not  hesitate  to  concede  that  where  a  marked  result 
invariably  follows  a  given  condition,  the  two  must  sustain 
towards  each  other  the  relation  of  cause  and  effect.  It  will 
not  be  difficult  to  establish  that  relation  in  this  case ;  and 
that,  too,  on  principles  consistent  with  the  supposition  of 
the  absolute  integrity  of  all  concerned. 

It  is,  in  fact,  but  another  striking  illustration  of  the  funda¬ 
mental  principles  laid  down  in  preceding  chapters  of  this 
book.  It  demonstrates  more  completely  than  almost  any 
other  phenomenon  the  absolute  amenability  of  the  subjec¬ 
tive  mind  to  the  power  of  suggestion.  It  will  not  be  gain¬ 
said  that  all  the  phenomena  mentioned  —  clairvoyance, 
thought-transference,  hypnotism,  and  mediumship  —  are 
embraced  under  the  one  generic  title,  subjective  or  hyp¬ 
notic  ;  they  are  therefore  governed  by  the  same  general 
laws. 

The  hypnotic  subject  who  is  in  the  presence  of  an 
openly  sceptical  audience,  and  who  hears  some  one  de¬ 
clare  that  the  subject  is  shamming,  instantly  seizes  upon 
the  declaration ;  and  it  is  to  him  a  suggestion  that  is  as 
potent  as  the  one  which  induced  the  hypnotic  condition. 
The  suggestion  of  the  operator  is  thus  neutralized,  so  to 
speak,  by  a  counter-suggestion,  which  reduces  the  subject 
at  once  to  his  normal  condition.  In  such  a  case  the  sub- 


EFFECTS  OF  ADVERSE  SUGGESTION. 


79 


ject  cannot  be  again  hypnotized  so  long  as  the  sceptic  is 
present ;  his  very  presence  is  a  standing  suggestion  of  the 
unreality  of  the  hypnotic  condition  which  cannot  be  over¬ 
come  by  the  operator. 

In  the  case  of  Bishop,  the  mind-reader,  the  same  prin¬ 
ciple  applies  with  equal  force.  The  mental  state  which 
enabled  him  to  read  the  contents  of  a  sealed  envelope  was 
self-induced.  It  was  a  partially  hypnotic  condition,  induced 
by  auto-suggestion.  When  Labouchere’s  envelope  was  pre¬ 
sented  to  him,  the  very  manner  of  presenting  it  —  the  offer 
of  its  contents  as  a  gift  if  he  would  read  the  number  of  the 
bank-note  within  —  was  a  defiance  of  his  power.  It  was  a 
suggestion  of  the  most  emphatic  character  and  potency 
that,  do  what  he  would,  he  could  not  read  the  contents 
of  that  envelope.  Again,  the  anxiety  engendered  in  the 
mind  of  the  clairvoyant  was  another  factor  which  added 
force  to  the  suggestion.  The  offer  was  not  only  defiant,  it 
was  even  public.  The  whole  civilized  world  was  apprised  of 
the  controversy.  The  professional  reputation  of  the  man 
was  at  stake.  His  future  career  depended  upon  his  suc¬ 
cess  j  and  every  dollar  of  value  in  that  note  not  only  added 
to  his  anxiety  to  win  the  prize,  but  contributed  its  force  to 
the  suggestion  that  he  could  not  succeed. 

There  is,  however,  another  factor  which  should  be  con¬ 
sidered  in  Bishop’s  case,  and  which  may  account  for  his 
failure  on  other  grounds  than  adverse  suggestion.  Bishop 
was  a  professional  mind-reader,  and,  as  I  understand  it,  did 
not  profess  to  have  independent  clairvoyant  powers.  If, 
therefore,  no  one  knew  the  number  of  the  bank-note,  it  is 
obvious  that  failure  was  inevitable,  for  the  reason  that  the 
fundamental  conditions  of  success  were  absent.  There  was 
no  mind  in  possession  of  the  number,  and  there  was  no 
mind  to  read.  It  was,  therefore,  not  a  fair  test  of  his  pro¬ 
fessed  powers  in  any  view  of  the  case.  But  if  Labouchere 
did  know  the  number  of  the  note,  the  failure  was  easily 
accounted  for,  as  before  remarked,  on  the  principle  of 
adverse  suggestion. 

It  is  obvious  thfit  the  principle  of  adverse  suggestion 


So 


THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


applies  to  all  phases  and  conditions  of  subjective  mental 
activity  j  and  the  necessity  for  harmonious  conditions,  so 
constantly  insisted  upon  by  spiritists  as  a  condition  pre¬ 
cedent  to  the  production  of  their  peculiar  forms  of  hypnotic 
phenomena,  is  seen  to  be  a  scientific  fact  of  immense  value 
and  significance,  and  not  a  mere  subterfuge  to  enable  them 
to  practice  a  fraud  and  impose  on  the  credulity  of  their 
auditors. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

HYPNOTISM  AND  MESMERISM. 

Warfare  of  the  Schools.  —  History  of  the  Science.  —  Mesmer’s 
Career.  —  The  Academicians.  —  The  Successors  of  Mesmer. — 
The  Royal  Academy  of  Medicine.  —  Its  Idiotic  Prejudices.  —  Dr. 
liraid’s  Discovery.  —  Re-baptism  of  the  Science.  —  Effects  of  Braid’s 
Discoveries.  —  Liebault’s  Theory  of  Suggestion.  —  The  Nancy 
School  and  the  Paris  School  compared.  —  The  P'luidic  Theory.  — 
The  Law  of  Suggestion  the  Greatest  Discovery  in  Psychic  Science. 

—  The  Significance  of  Braid’s  Discoveries  not  Appreciated.  —  Hyp¬ 
notism  of  Animals.  —  The  Charcot  School.  —  The  Sources  of  its 
Errors.  —  Reform  in  Terminology  suggested.  —  The  Mesmeric 
Theory.  —  Braid’s  Processes  not  productive  of  Higher  Phenomena- 

—  Mesmerization  of  Animals.  —  Recapitulation  of  Points. 

'^HUS  far  little  has  been  said  regarding  the  light  which 
*  has  been  shed  upon  the  subject  under  consideration 
by  the  discoveries  of  modern  science.  The  more  impor¬ 
tant  of  these  discoveries  having  resulted  from  investigations 
of  the  subject  of  hypnotism,  it  will  be  necessary  briefly  to 
review  the  more  salient  features  of  that  science,  and  to 
trace  its  progress  from  the  time  of  Mesmer  down  to  the 
present  day. 

Since  the  time  when  Mesmer  first  brought  his  discoveries 
to  the  attention  of  the  scientific  world  the  students  of  the 
phenomena  which  he  evoked  have  been  hopelessly  at  vari¬ 
ance.  That  they  should  entertain  diverse  theories  regarding 
the  cause  of  phenomena  so  strange  and  full  of  mystery  is 
natural.  That  they  should,  in  the  absence  of  knowledge  of 
the  subject,  abuse  and  vilify  each  other  because  of  their 

6 


82 


THE  LA  W  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


differences  of  opinion,  was  to  be  expected.  Hatred  of  onr 
neighbor  because  his  problematical  theories  do  not  agree 
with  our  undemonstrable  hypotheses  is,  unfortunately,  one 
of  the  salient  weaknesses  of  human  nature. 

It  is,  however,  comparatively  rare  that  scientific  investi¬ 
gators  disagree  regarding  the  demonstrable  facts  pertaining 
to  a  subject  under  investigation.  Yet  this  is  the  condition 
in  which  we  find  the  science  of  hypnotism  after  more  than 
a  century  of  research  by  some  of  the  ablest  scientists  of  the 
world.  They  are  divided  into  schools,  to-day,  as  they  were 
in  the  infancy  of  the  science.  Indeed,  the  science  is  still 
in  its  infancy.  Facts  have  accumulated,  it  is  true;  and 
they  will  be  found  to  be  of  infinite  advantage  to  some 
future  investigator  whose  mind  is  capable  of  rising  above 
the  prejudices  which  characterize  the  different  schools,  and 
of  assimilating  and  harmonizing  their  demonstrated  facts 
into  one  comprehensive  system. 

Thus  far  the  different  schools  have  distrusted  or  denied 
each  other’s  facts,  and  waged  war  upon  each  other’s  theories. 
The  most  carefully  conducted  experiments  of  one  school 
will,  in  the  hands  of  the  other,  produce  opposite  results. 
Hence  each  experimenter  is  irresistibly  led  to  distrust  the 
scientific  accuracy  of  the  methods  employed  by  others,  or 
to  admit  their  integrity  only  at  the  expense  of  their  intelli¬ 
gence.  In  the  mean  time  each  school  has  conducted  its 
experiments  seemingly  by  the  most  rigid  scientific  methods 
and  with  conscientious  fidelity  to  truth ;  but  the  results  of 
each  apparently  disprove  the  conclusions  of  all  the  others. 
Hence  it  is  that,  in  the  bibliography  of  hypnotism,  we  find 
an  immense  mass  of  well-authenticated  facts  which,  tried  by 
the  ctandards  of  any  one  of  the  different  schools,  appears 
like  an  appalling  hodge-podge  of  falsehood  and  delusion, 
chicanery  and  superstition.  Indeed,  no  other  science,  since 
the  dawn  of  creation,  has  suffered  so  much  at  the  hands  of 
ignorance  and  superstition  as  the  science  under  discussion. 
Its  ancient  history  is  the  record  of  the  supernatural  in  all  the 
nations  of  the  earth.  Its  phenomena  have  been  the  foun¬ 
dation  of  all  the  religions  and  all  the  superstitions  of  ancient 


HYPNOTISM  AND  MESMERISM. 


83 


times.  Its  modern  history  has  also  been  largely  a  record 
of  superstitious  belief,  fostered  by  chicanery  and  ignorance  ; 
the  nature  of  the  phenomena  being  such  that  in  the  hands 
alike  of  honest  ignorance  and  conscious  fraud  they  may  be 
made  to  sanction  every  belief,  confirm  every  dogma,  and 
foster  every  superstition.  It  was  these  facts  which  drove 
scientific  men  from  the  field  of  investigation  in  the  early 
modern  history  of  the  science.  Mesmer  himself,  in  the 
light  of  modern  knowledge  of  the  subject,  is  apt  to  be  ac¬ 
cused  of  charlatanism ;  but,  as  we  shall  see  further  on,  he 
is  entitled,  in  common  with  all  investigators,  to  the  largest 
measure  of  charity. 

As  before  remarked,  the  facts  of  hypnotism  obtained  by 
the  experimenters  of  the  different  schools  appear  to  contra¬ 
dict  each  other.  This,  however,  is  obviously  only  an  ap¬ 
parent  contradiction,  for  it  is  axiomatic  that  no  one  fact  in 
Nature  is  inconsistent  with  any  other  fact.  It  follows  that 
there  must  be  some  underlying  principle  or  principles,  here¬ 
tofore  overlooked,  which  will  harmonize  the  facts.  It  is  the 
purpose  of  this  chapter  to  outline  a  few  fundamental  prin¬ 
ciples  which,  properly  understood,  will  enable  the  student 
of  hypnotism  to  reconcile  many  seeming  inconsistencies. 
An  understanding  of  the  salient  points  of  difference  between 
the  various  schools  can  best  be  conveyed  by  briefly  outlin¬ 
ing  the  modern  history  of  the  science. 

Mesmer  is  entitled  to  the  credit  of  having  first  brought 
the  subject  to  the  attention  of  the  scientific  world,  al¬ 
though  probably  his  attention  was  attracted  to  it  by  the 
writings  of  Paracelsus  and  Van  Helmont.  In  the  early 
part  of  his  career  he  was  deeply  interested  in  the  study 
of  astrology,  and  he  fancied  that  the  planets  somehow  ex¬ 
erted  an  influence  on  the  health  of  human  beings.  He 
at  first  thought  that  this  influence  was  electrical,  but  after¬ 
wards  referred  it  to  magnetism.  At  that  time  his  cures 
were  effected  by  stroking  the  diseased  bodies  with  artificial 
magnets.  He  achieved  considerable  success  by  such  means, 
and  published  a  work  in  1766  entitled  “  De  Planetarum 
Influxa.”  In  1776,  however,  he  met  Gassner,  a  Catholic 


84  the  la  IV  OF  rsYciJ/c  phehomeha. 

priest  who  had  achieved  great  notoriety  by  curing  disease 
by  manipulation,  without  the  use  of  any  other  means. 
Mesmer  then  threw  away  his  magnets,  and  evolved  the 
theory  of  “animal  magnetism.”  This  he  held  to  be  a  fluid 
which  pervades  the  universe,  but  is  most  active  in  the 
human  nervous  organization,  and  enables  one  man,  charged 
with  the  fluid,  to  exert  a  powerful  influence  over  another. 

Two  years  after  meeting  Gassner  he  went  to  Paris,  and 
at  once  threw  that  capital  into  the  wildest  excitement  by 
the  marvellous  effects  of  his  manipulations.  He  was  treated 
with  contumely  by  the  medical  profession;  but  the  people 
flocked  to  him,  and  many  wonderful  cures  were  effected. 
His  methods,  in  the  light  of  present  knowledge,  smack  of 
charlatanism ;  but  that  he  believed  in  himself  was  demon¬ 
strated  by  his  earnest  demand  for  an  investigation.  This 
the  Government  consented  to,  and  a  commission,  composed 
of  physicians  and  members  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences, 
was  appointed,  of  which  Benjamin  Franklin  was  a  member. 
The  report  admitted  the  leading  facts  claimed  by  Mesmer, 
but  held  that  there  was  no  evidence  to  prove  the  correct¬ 
ness  of  his  magnetic  fluid  theory,  and  referred  the  wonder¬ 
ful  effects  witnessed  to  the  “  imagination  ”  of  the  patients. 
Their  conclusion  was  that  the  subject  was  not  worthy  of 
further  scientific  investigation. 

It  is  difficult  at  this  day  to  conceive  by  what  process  of 
reasoning  that  learned  body  could  arrive  at  such  a  conclu¬ 
sion.  They  admitted  the  existence  of  a  motive  force  ca¬ 
pable  of  controlling  man’s  physical  organization,  that  this 
force  is  amenable  to  control  by  man,  and  that  this  control 
is  capable  of  being  reduced  to  an  art.  Then  they  proceed 
to  announce  a  discovery  of  their  own,  —  a  discovery,  by 
the  way,  which  turns  out  to  be  the  most  important  which 
modern  science  had,  at  that  time,  contributed  to  the  solu¬ 
tion  of  the  great  problem.  They  discovered  that  the  phe¬ 
nomena  were  purely  subjective,  thereby  demonstrating  the 
power  of  mind  over  matter.  If  they  had  stopped  there, 
or  if  they  had  concluded  that  this  wonderful  force  was 
worthy  of  the  most  searching  scientific  investigation,  they 


HYPNOTISM  AND  MESMERISM. 


85 


would  have  been  entitled  to  the  gratitude  of  all  mankind, 
and  the  science  would  have  been  at  once  wrested  from  the 
hands  of  ignorance  and  empiricism.  That  they  should 
content  themselves  with  disproving  Mesmer’s  theory  of 
causation,  and,  after  having  themselves  made  a  discovery 
of  the  true  cause,  should  announce  that  their  own  discov¬ 
ery  was  not  worth  the  trouble  of  further  investigation,  is 
inexplicable. 

Soon  after  this,  Mesmer  was  driven  into  exile,  followed  by 
the  execrations  of  a  majority  of  the  medical  profession,  and 
died  in  1815.  He  left  many  disciples,  a  majority  of  whom 
were  shallow  empirics,  and  mesmerism  was  brought  still 
further  into  disrepute.  There  were  a  few  able  and  scien¬ 
tific  men,  however,  who  still  pursued  the  investigation, 
among  whom  were  the  Marquis  de  Puys^gur,  Deleuze,  and 
others.  These  gentlemen  revolutionized  the  art  by  first 
causing  their  subjects  to  sleep  by  means  of  gentle  manipu¬ 
lation,  instead  of  surrounding  them  with  mysticism  in  dimly 
lighted  apartments  filled  with  sweet  odors  and  the  strains  of 
soft  and  mysterious  music,  as  was  the  practice  of  Mesmer. 
They  developed  in  their  subjects  the  power  of  clairvoyance, 
and  demonstrated  it  in  a  thousand  ways.  They  caused 
them  to  obey  mental  orders  as  readily  as  if  the  orders  were 
spoken.  They  healed  the  sick,  caused  the  lame  to  walk, 
and  the  blind  to  see.  In  short,  they  so  far  revived  the  in¬ 
terest  in  the  subject  that  the  Royal  Academy  of  Medicine, 
in  France,  felt  compelletl  to  order  a  new  investigation. 
This  was  done  in  1825.  A  committee  was  appointed,  com¬ 
posed  of  the  ablest  and  most  cautious  scientists  in  their 
body.  For  nearly  six  years  that  committee  pursued  its  in¬ 
vestigations,  and  in  1831  it  submitted  its  report.  It  would 
be  tedious  to  enumerate  all  the  conclusions  at  which  it 
arrived.  Its  principal  efforts  were  directed  to  the  deter¬ 
mination  of  the  therapeutic  value  of  mesmerism.  It  con¬ 
firmed  much  that  had  been  claimed  for  it  in  that  respect, 
and  demonstrated  the  power  of  clairvoyance,  by  indubitable 
tests.  It  also  confirmed  the  claim  that  persons  could  be 
magnetized  at  a  ilistance  as  well  as  by  contact,  although 


86 


THE  LA  JV  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


there  ir;  nothing  in  the  report  which  shows  how  far  the  pos¬ 
sibilities  of  suggestion  were  removed  in  that  class  of  ex¬ 
periments.  Indeed,  in  deference  to  truth  it  must  be  here 
remarked  that  mesmerists  at  that  time  had  but  a  faint  and 
undefined  notion  of  the  subtle  role  which  suggestion  plays 
in  all  psychological  phenomena.  Hence  it  follows  that  in 
examining  the  record  of  experiments  in  the  higher  phe¬ 
nomena  of  hypnotism  we  must  make  due  allowance  for 
possible  error  in  all  cases  where  the  nature  of  the  experi¬ 
ments  does  not  preclude  the  possibility  of  suggestion  having 
influenced  the  result,  or  where  the  possibilities  of  suggestion 
have  not  been  intelligently  eliminated. 

The  effect  of  this  report  was  instantaneous  and  remark¬ 
able.  The  advocates  of  magnetism  as  a  therapeutic  agent, 
and  the  believers  in  the  occult  features  of  the  phenomena, 
such  as  clairvoyance  and  thought-transference,  had  scored 
a  triumph.  But  it  served  only  to  exasperate  the  average 
scientist  and  to  intensify  his  prejudices.  The  Academy 
refused  to  dignify  the  report  by  printing  it,  and  it  rests 
to-day  in  silent  oblivion  in  the  manuscript  archives  of  the 
institution.  Another  committee  was  soon  after  appointed, 
headed  by  a  member  who  had  openly  sworn  hostility  to  the 
doctrine.  The  result  was  what  might  have  been  expected. 
After  the  examination  of  two  subjects  under  circumstances 
which,  in  the  light  of  what  is  now  known,  rendered  failure 
inevitable,  the  committee  made  a  very  undignified  report, 
announcing  the  failure  to  produce  the  occult  phenomena 
promised,  and  impugning  the  intelligence  of  the  former 
committee.  Strange  and  illogical  as  it  may  seem,  the  later 
report,  which  proved  nothing,  which  was  confined  to  an 
announcement  of  merely  negative  results,  which  simply 
showed  that  the  committee  did  not  witness  certain  prom¬ 
ised  phenomena,  was  accepted  by  the  average  scientist  as 
containing  the  gospel  of  hypnotism,  as  against  the  report 
of  the  earlier  committee,  which,  after  five  years  of  laborious 
research,  announced  that  it  had  witnessed  the  phenomena 
in  question  and  demonstrated  their  reality. 

For  some  years  subsequent  to  this  the  investigation  of 


HYPNOTISM  AND  MESMERISM. 


87 


ihe  subject  was  confined  to  its  psychological  and  thera¬ 
peutic  features ;  but  every  scientist  who  dabbled  in  it  was 
tabooed  by  the  majority  of  his  associates.  Many  able 
works  were  produced  on  the  subject,  but  none  of  them 
attracted  the  attention  of  the  academicians  until  Dr.  Braid, 
of  Manchester,  undertook  to  demonstrate  the  theory  that 
the  hypothetical  magnetic  fluid  had  nothing  to  do  with  the 
production  of  the  phenomena.  Braid  discovered  that  by 
placing  a  bright  object  before  the  eyes  of  the  subject,  and 
causing  him  to  gaze  upon  it  with  persistent  attention,  he 
could  be  thrown  into  the  hypnotic  sleep,  during  which 
many  of  the  well-known  phenomena  ascribed  to  magnetism 
could  be  produced.  This  seemed  to  point  to  the  possi¬ 
bility  of  a  physiological  explanation  of  the  subject-matter. 
It  attracted  the  attention  of  the  scientists,  and  thus  to 
Braid  belongs  the  credit  of  causing  the  subject  to  be  at 
last  acknowledged  as  being  within  the  domain  of  the  exact 
sciences.  The  academicians  were  now  mollified.  The  pet 
theory  of  the  mesmerists  appeared  to  have  been  demol¬ 
ished.  The  method  was  simple  and  easily  applied.  The 
phenomena  of  thought-transference  could  not  be  produced 
by  its  methods.  It  promised  a  physiological  explanation  ; 
and,  best  of  all,  it  had  been  given  a  new  name.  It  had 
received  many  names  before  Braid  undertook  the  task  of 
rechristening  it;  but,  with  the  exception  of  “  mesmerism,” 
each  was  objectionable,  because  it  implied  a  theory  of 
causation.  The  name  “  mesmerism  ”  was  obviously  im¬ 
proper,  because  Mesmer  was  neither  the  discoverer  of  the 
farce,  nor  the  inventor  of  the  practical  method  of  evoking 
it.  “Animal  magnetism”  implied  Mesmer’s  theory  of 
magnetic  currents.  “  Mental  or  animal  electricity  ”  im¬ 
plied  practically  the  same  theory.  “  Neurology  ”  indicated 
the  science  of  the  nervous  system.  “  Patheism  ”  (from 
the  Greek  radical  signifying  disease  or  suffering)  and 
“  etherology  ”  (which  means  the  science  of  the  refined 
part  of  the  atmosphere)  were  equally  meaningless  as  ap¬ 
plied  to  the  subject.  “  Psycodunamy  ”  signified  the  power 
of  the  soul ;  and  “  electro-biology  ”  was  American,  and  not 


88 


THE  LA  IV  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


to  be  tolerated.  But  when  Braid  denominated  it  “  h}^?- 
notism,”  —  from  the  Greek  word  signifying  sleep,  —  it  was 
hailed  as  a  compromise  sufficiently  noncommittal  to  entitle 
it  to  recognition,  and  “  hypnotism  ”  it  will  be  called  until 
some  academician  drags  to  light  the  ultimate  cause  of  all 
things. 

Braid  has  been  accorded  a  great  deal  of  credit  for  his 
original  researches  and  discoveries,  but  it  is  questionable 
whether  he  has  not  been  the  indirect  means  of  retarding  the 
true  progress  of  the  science.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that 
since  his  method  of  hypnotizing  has  been  generally  adopted, 
the  higher  phenomena,  such  as  clairvoyance  and  thought- 
transference,  have  fallen  into  disrepute,  and  are  now  rarely 
produced.  Indeed,  it  may  be  said  to  be  practically  a  lost 
art,  considered  as  a  result  of  hypnotic  processes.  The  cause 
of  this  will  receive  attention  hereafter.  Braid  could  not 
cause  his  subjects  to  obey  his  mental  orders,  and  he  dis¬ 
believed  in  the  power  of  clairvoyance.  He  acknowledged 
that  some  of  his  subjects  could  tell  the  shape  of  what  was 
“  held  at  an  inch  and  a  half  from  the  skin,  on  the  back 
of  the  neck,  crown  of  the  head,  arm,  or  hand,  or  other 
parts  of  the  body,”  but  held  that  “  it  is  from  feeling  they 
do  so.”  ^  He  demonstrated  the  extreme  sensitiveness  of 
one  subject  by  causing  her  to  obey  the  motion  of  a  glass 
funnel  held  in  his  hand,  at  a  distance  of  fifteen  feet.®  Truly, 
a  remarkable  case  of  “  feeling.” 

Braid  is  entitled  to  great  credit  for  the  discovery  that  the 
hypnotic  state  can  be  induced  independently  of  the  pres¬ 
ence  or  co-operation  of  another  person.  Further  than  that, 
his  work  is  practically  valueless,  for  the  reason  that  he 
never  understood  the  power  or  influence  of  suggestion.  It 
is  therefore  manifestly  impossible  to  determine  the  value  of 
any  experiment  of  his,  except  in  cases  the  nature  of  which 
precludes  the  possibility  of  suggestion  being  employed,  or 
in  cases  where  it  was  expressly  eliminated. 

Two  facts,  however,  seem  to  have  been  demonstrated  by  his 
experiments,  both  of  which  are  of  the  utmost  importance  : 

1  Braid  on  Hypnotism,  p.  37,  note. 


2  Ibid. 


HYPNOTISM  AND  MESMERISM. 


89 


1,  That  the  hypnotic  sleep  can  be  induced  indepen¬ 
dently  of  personal  contact  with,  or  the  personal  influence 
of,  another. 

2.  That  the  sleep  can  be  induced  by  his  method  without 
the  aid  of  suggestion. 

The  mistake  which  his  followers  have  made  is  in  jumping 
to  the  conclusion  that  because  one  of  the  primary  condi¬ 
tions  of  hypnotic  phenomena  can  be  induced  without  the 
aid  of  the  magnetic  hypothesis,  therefore  the  magnetic  hy¬ 
pothesis  is  necessarily  incorrect.  The  same  logic  would 
induce  a  man  who  for  the  first  time  sees  a  railroad  train  in 
motion  to  conclude  that  any  other  method  of  locomotion  is 
impracticable.  Braid  himself  was  not  so  illogical ;  for  he 
expressly  says  that  he  does  not  consider  the  methods  iden¬ 
tical,  but  does  “  consider  the  condition  of  the  nervous  sys¬ 
tem  induced  by  both  modes  to  be  analogous.” 

Another  mistake,  shared  in  common  by  both  the  modern 
schools  of  hypnotists,  is  the  failure  to  appreciate  the  signi¬ 
ficance  of  the  fact  that  by  Braid’s  method  the  hypnotic  con¬ 
dition  can  be  induced  without  the  aid  of  suggestion.  One 
school  ignores  the  fact  altogether,  or  considers  it  of  doubt¬ 
ful  verity,  and  the  other  regards  it  merely  as  an  evidence 
that  suggestion  plays  a  secondary  role  in  hypnotic  phe¬ 
nomena.  That  both  are  to  some  extent  wrong  will  appear 
at  the  proper  time,  as  will  also  the  fact  of  the  failure  of  all 
the  schools  to  grasp  its  real  significance. 

For  some  years  after  the  appearance  of  Braid’s  book  there 
was  but  little,  if  any,  progress  made  in  the  science.  His 
methods,  however,  were  generally  adopted,  but  the  value  of 
his  discovery  was  not  appreciated  by  his  own  countrymen  ; 
and  it  was  not  until  the  Continental  scientists  extended  his 
researches  that  he  obtained  substantial  recognition.  Lie- 
bault  was  the  first  to  confirm  his  experiments,  and  in  1866 
he  published  a  work,  in  which  he  advanced  much  that  was 
new  in  fact  and  theory.  He  was,  in  fact,  the  founder  ol 
what  is  now  known  as  the  Nancy  school  of  hypnotism. 
Many  prominent  scientists  have  followed  him,  and  many 
able  works  have  been  produced,  prominent  among  which 


90 


THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


may  be  mentioned  “  Suggestive  Therapeutics,”  by  Professor 
Bernheim,  and  “Hypnotism,”  by  Albert  Moll,  of  Berlin. 

Professor  Charcot,  of  the  Paris  Salpetriere,  is  also  the 
founder  of  a  school  of  hypnotism,  which  is  generally  known 
as  the  Paris  school,  or  school  of  the  Salpetriere.  Charcot’s 
great  reputation  as  a  scientist  obtained  for  him  many  fol¬ 
lowers  at  first,  prominent  among  whom  are  Binet  and  F^rd, 
whose  joint  work,  entitled  “  Animal  Magnetism,”  has  been 
widely  read  both  in  Europe  and  America. 

These  schools  differ  widely  both  in  theory  and  practice, 
their  only  point  of  union  being  their  utter  contempt  for  the 
theory  and  practice  of  what  must  still  be  known,  for  want 
of  a  better  term,  as  the  mesmeric  school. 

These  three  schools  represent  the  grand  divisions  which 
it  will  be  necessary  to  recognize  in  the  discussion  of  the 
subject  under  consideration. 

The  leading  points  of  difference  between  the  three 
schools  may  be  briefly  stated  as  follows  :  — 

1.  The  theory  of  the  Nancy  school  is  that  the  different 
physiological  conditions  characterizing  the  hypnotic  state 
are  determined  by  mental  action  alone  ;  that  the  phenomena 
can  best  be  produced  in  persons  of  sound  physical  health 
and  perfect  mental  balance ;  and  that  this  mental  action 
and  the  consequent  physical  and  psychological  phenomena 
are  the  result,  in  all  cases,  of  some  form  of  suggestion. 

2.  The  Paris  school  holds  that  hypnotism  is  the  result  of 
an  abnormal  or  diseased  condition  of  the  nerves;  that  a 
great  number  of  the  phenomena  can  be  produced  indepen¬ 
dently  of  suggestion  in  any  form ;  that  the  true  hypnotic 
condition  can  be  produced  only  in  persons  whose  nerves 
are  diseased ;  and  that  the  whole  subject  is  explicable  on 
the  basis  of  cerebral  anatomy  or  physiology. 

3.  The  mesmerists  hold  to  the  fluidic  theory  of  Mesmer  : 
that  the  hypnotic  condition  is  induced,  independent  of  sug¬ 
gestion,  by  passes  made  by  the  operator  over  the  subject, 
accompanied  by  intense  concentration  of  mind  and  will  on 
the  part  of  the  former ;  that  from  him  flows  a  subtle  fluid 
which  impinges  upon  the  subject  wherever  it  is  directed, 


HYPNOTISM  AND  MESMERISM. 


91 


and  produces  therapeutic  or  other  effects  in  obedience  to 
the  will  of  the  operator ;  that  these  effects  can  best  be  pro¬ 
duced  by  personal  contact ;  but  that  they  can  be  produced 
at  a  distance  and  without  the  knowledge  of  the  subject,  and 
independently  of  suggestion. 

In  discussing  the  merits  of  these  several  schools,  it  is 
perhaps  superfluous  to  say  that  it  is  self-evident  that 
neither  school  can  be  entirely  right.  Each  presents  an  ar¬ 
ray  of  facts  which  seems  to  support  its  theory ;  but  as  the 
theories  are  irreconcilable,  and  the  facts  apparently  contra¬ 
dict  each  other,  it  follows  that  some  fundamental  principle 
underlying  the  whole  subject-matter  has  been  overlooked. 
It  is  the  purpose  of  this  book  to  suggest  a  possible  way  to 
the  discovery  of  the  principle,  —  the  missing  link  which 
will  unite  the  chain  and  bind  the  facts  of  psychological 
science  into  one  harmonious  whole. 

The  Nancy  school  of  hypnotism  is  entitled  to  the  credit  of 
having  made  the  most  important  discovery  in  psychological 
science.  The  fact  that  the  subjective  mind  is  constantly 
amenable  to  control  by  the  power  of  suggestion,  constitutes 
the  grand  principle  in  psychological  science,  which,  when 
properly  appreciated  and  applied,  will  solve  every  problem 
and  illuminate  every  obscurity  in  the  labyrinthian  science 
of  the  human  soul,  so  far  as  it  will  ever  be  possible  for 
finite  intelligence  to  penetrate  it.  It  is  safe  to  say  that 
in  all  the  broad  realm  of  psychological  science  there  is 
not  a  phenomenon  upon  which  it  will  not  shed  light.  It 
is  no  discredit  to  that  school  to  say  that  its  leaders  and 
teachers  do  not  yet  seem  to  comprehend  the  profound 
significance  of  their  discovery,  and  that  in  one  direction 
they  have  extended  it  too  flrr.  It  is  the  latter  proposition 
which  will  first  receive  attention. 

They  hold,  very  correctly,  that  all  the  phenomena  of  hyp¬ 
notism,  subsequent  to  the  induction  of  the  hypnotic  condi¬ 
tion,  are  due  to  the  power  of  suggestion  in  some  form. 
I'hat  this  is  true,  admits  of  no  possible  doubt.  They  also 
find  by  experiment  that  the  hypnotic  condition  can  be  in¬ 
duced  simply  by  the  power  of  suggestion.  Their  conclu- 


92 


THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


sion  is  that  suggestion  is  a  necessary  factor  in  the  induction 
of  the  hypnotic  condition.  That  this  is  not  true  can  be 
very  readily  demonstrated  by  reference  to  a  few  well-known 
and  admitted  facts.  One  of  the  first  discoveries  made  by 
Braid  was  that  by  his  methods  the  hypnotic  condition 
could  be  induced  in  persons  who  had  never  seen  or  heard 
of  hypnotic  phenomena. 

The  following  passage  from  that  learned  author  seems  to 
have  been  overlooked  by  those  of  his  commentators  who 
seek  for  evidence  in  his  experiments  to  prove  that  sugges¬ 
tion  is  a  necessary  factor  in  the  induction  of  the  hypnotic 
condition  ;  — 

“In  order  to  prove  my  position  still  more  clearly,  I  called  up 
one  of  my  men-servants,  who  knew  nothing  of  mesmerism,  and 
gave  him  such  directions  as  were  calculated  to  impress  his  mind 
with  the  idea  that  his  fixed  attention  was  merely  for  the  purpose 
of  watching  a  chemical  experiment  in  the  preparation  of  some 
medicine,  and  being  familiar  with  such,  he  could  feel  no  alarm. 
In  two  minutes  and  a  half  his^eyelids  closed  slowly  with  a  vibra¬ 
ting  motion,  his  chin  fell  on  his  breast,  he  gave  a  deep  sigh,  and 
instantly  was  in  a  profound  sleep,  breathing  loudly.  ...  In 
about  one  minute  after  his  profound  sleep  I  aroused  him  and 
pretended  to  chide  him  for  being  so  careless,  said  he  ought  to 
be  ashamed  of  himself  for  not  being  able  to  attend  to  my  in¬ 
structions  for  three  minutes  without  falling  asleep,  and  ordered 
him  downstairs.  In  a  short  time  I  recalled  this  young  man,  and 
desired  him  to  sit  down  once  more,  but  to  be  careful  not  to  go 
to  sleep  again,  as  on  the  former  occasion.  He  sat  down  with 
this  intention  ;  but  at  the  expiration  of  two  minutes  and  a  half  his 
eyelids  closed,  and  exactly  the  same  phenomena  as  in  the  former 
experiment  ensued.”  ^ 

Now,  whilst  it  is  true  that  Braid  did  not  realize  the  su¬ 
preme  potency  of  suggestion  as  it  is  now  understood  by  the 
Nancy  school,  he  did  intelligently  eliminate  it  in  the  experi¬ 
ment  above  related.  It  was  his  purpose  to  demonstrate  his 
theory  that  “  the  phenomena  of  mesmerism  were  to  be  ac¬ 
counted  for  on  the  principle  of  a  derangement  of  the  state 
of  the  cerebro-spinal  centres,  and  of  the  circulatory  and 


*  Neurypnology,  p.  i8. 


HYPNOTISM  AND  MESMERISM. 


93 


respiratory  and  muscular  systems.”  ^  In  other  words,  he  was 
seeking  to  demonstrate  his  theory  that  the  phenomena  of 
mesmerism  are  attributable  to  a  physical  rather  than  a 
mental  cause.  Hence  his  care  to  select  a  subject  who 
knew  nothing  of  what  was  expected  of  him. 

Braid  relates  another  circumstance  equally  demonstrative 
of  the  proposition  that  suggestion  is  not  a  necessary  factor 
in  the  induction  of  the  hypnotic  state.  He  says  :  — 

“  After  my  lecture  at  the  Hanover  Square  Rooms,  London, 
on  the  1st  of  March,  1842,  a  gentleman  told  Mr.  Walker,  who 
was  along  with  me,  that  he  was  most  anxious  to  see  me,  that  I 
might  try  whether  I  could  hypnotize  him.  He  said  both  himself 
and  friends  were  anxious  he  should  be  affected,  but  that  neither 
Lafontaine  nor  others  who  had  tried  him  could  succeed.  Mr. 
Walker  said,  ‘  If  that  is  what  you  want,  as  Mr.  Braid  is  engaged 
otherwise,  sit  down,  and  I  will  hypnotize  you  myself  in  a  minute.’ 
When  I  went  into  the  room,  I  observed  what  was  going  on,  the 
gentleman  sitting  staring  at  Mr.  Walker's  finger,  who  was  stand¬ 
ing  a  little  to  the  right  of  the  pati^t,  with  his  eyes  fixed  steadily 
on  those  of  the  latter.  I  passed  on  and  attended  to  something 
else;  and  when  I  returned  a  little  after,  I  found  Mr.  Walker 
standing  in  the  same  position, /izj/  asleep,  his  arm  and finger  in 
a  state  of  cataleptiform  rigidity,  and  the  patient  wide  awake 
and  staring  at  the  finger  all  the  while.”  ^ 

This  is  a  clear  case  of  the  induction  of  the  hypnotic  con¬ 
dition  without  the  aid  of  suggestion.  Mr.  Walker  had  no 
thought  of  going  into  the  state  himself,  but  was  intent  on 
hypnotizing  the  patient.  The  suggestion  in  his  mind  was, 
therefore,  in  the  opposite  direction.  He  had,  however,  in¬ 
advertently  placed  himself  in  the  proper  attitude,  and  so 
concentrated  his  gaze  as  to  induce  the  state,  and  that 
directly  contrary  to  his  auto-suggestion. 

These  two  instances  have  been  cited  from  Braid  for  the 
reason  that  (i)  he  was  the  discoverer  of  the  method  of 
hypnotizing  by  causing  the  subject  to  gaze  steadily  upon 
an  object;  and  (2)  he  was  not  attempting  to  prove  or  dis¬ 
prove  the  theory  of  suggestion.  His  testimony  is  obviously 
all  the  more  reliable  for  that  reason,  for  one  is  prone  to 


*  Neurypnology,  p.  19. 


Ibid.,  p.  39. 


94 


THE  LA  W  OF  PSYCHIC  PHEiYOMENA. 


distrust  the  verity  of  experiments  made  for  the  purpose  o? 
sustaining  a  theory.  Many  facts  have  been  recorded  which 
demonstrate  the  proposition  that  by  Braid’s  method  the  hyp¬ 
notic  state  can  be  induced  independently  of  suggestion. 
One  class  only  of  such  facts  needs  to  be  cited  to  convince 
the  most  sceptical. 

I  allude  to  religious  devotees,  who  are  often  thrown  into 
the  hypnotic  state,  even  to  the  degree  of  ecstasy,  by  gazing 
upon  the  crucifix,  or  upon  pictures  of  the  Holy  Virgin  or  of 
the  saints.  The  Catholic  clergy  would  seem  to  have  a  dim 
perception  of  the  principle  involved  when  they  elevate  the 
cross  above  the  eyes  of  those  in  whom  they  wish  to  excite 
devotional  enthusiasm.  Be  that  as  it  may,  the  fact  is  of 
scientific  value  to  the  investigator  of  psychological  phe¬ 
nomena.  The  natural  attitude  of  prayer  —  the  eyes  raised 
towards  heaven  —  is  certainly  not  only  conducive  to  devo¬ 
tional  feeling,  but,  in  emotional  natures,  to  a  state  at  least 
cognate  to  hypnotism,  if  not  identical  with  it.  Hence  the 
subjective  hallucinations  which  often  result  from  the  long 
and  earnest  prayers  of  religious  enthusiasts. 

More  conclusive  still  is  the  fact  that  animals  can  be  hyp¬ 
notized.  Albert  Moll,  who  is  one  of  the  ablest,  and  cer¬ 
tainly  one  of  the  most  unprejudiced,  of  modern  scientific 
writers  on  the  subject  of  hypnotism,  writing  from  the  stand¬ 
point  of  the  Nancy  school,  makes  the  following  observations 
on  the  subject  of  hypnotizing  animals  :  — 

“States  resembling,  or  perhaps  identical  with,  hypnosis,  are 
also  found  in  animals,  and  can  easily  be  experimentally  induced. 
The  first  experiments  of  this  kind  are  referred  to  by  the  Jesuit 
Kircher,  —  the  so-called  experimenhwi  7nirabile  Kircheri. 
Kircher  described  these  experiments  in  1646;  but  according 
to  Preyer,  the  experiment  had  been  made  by  Schwenter  several 
years  earlier.  The  most  striking  of  these  experiments,  which 
are  being  continued  in  the  present  day,  is  as  follows :  A  hen  is 
held  down  on  the  ground ;  the  head  in  particular  is  pressed 
down.  A  chalk  line  is  then  drawn  on  the  ground,  starting  from 
the  bird’s  beak.  The  hen  will  remain  motionless.  Kircher  as¬ 
cribes  this  to  the  animal’s  imagination  ;  he  said  that  it  imagined 
that  it  was  fastened,  and  consequently  did  not  try  to  move. 
Czermak  repeated  the  experiment  on  different  animals,  and  an- 


HYPNOTISM  AND  MESMERISM. 


95 


nounced  in  1872  that  a  hypnotic  state  could  be  induced  in  other 
animals  besides  the  hen.  Preyer  shortly  after  began  to  interest 
himself  in  the  question,  and  made  a  series  of  experiments  like 
Czermak’s.  Preyer,  however,  distinguishes  two  states  in  ani¬ 
mals,  —  catalepsy,  which  is  the  effect  of  fear ;  and  the  hypnotic 
state.  Heubel,  Kichet,  Danilewsky,  and  Rieger,  besides  the 
authors  mentioned  above,  have  occupied  themselves  with  the 
question. 

“  Most  of  the  e.xperiments  have  been  made  with  frogs,  cray¬ 
fish,  guinea-pigs,  and  birds.  I  have  made  many  with  frogs. 
This  much  is  certain ;  many  animals  will  remain  motionless  in 
any  position  in  which  they  have  been  held  by  force  for  a  time. 
There  are  various  opinions  as  to  the  meaning  of  this.  Preyer 
thinks  many  of  these  states  are  paralyses  from  fright,  or  cata¬ 
lepsy,  produced  by  a  sudden  peripheral  stimulus.  In  any  case 
they  vividly  recall  the  catalepsy  of  the  Salpetriere,  also  caused 
by  a  strong  external  stimulus.”  1 

The  experiments  of  Kircher,  above  mentioned,  were  un¬ 
dertaken  with  a  view  of  demonstrating  his  theory  that  ani¬ 
mals  possessed  great  powers  of  imagination.  The  chalk 
mark,  he  held,  represented  to  the  imagination  of  the  hen  a 
string  with  which  she  supposed  herself  to  be  bound.  In  his 
day,  of  course,  nothing  was  known  of  hypnotism.  It  has 
since  been  demonstrated  that  the  chalk  mark  has  nothing 
to  do  with  the  production  of  the  phenomenon.  The  same 
result  follows  when  the  chalk  mark  is  omitted.  The  writer 
has  hypnotized  a  pet  rooster  by  Braid’s  method  without 
using  any  violence  whatever,  or  even  touching  the  fowl. 
He  was  exceedingly  tame,  and  it  was  only  necessary  to  hold 
a  small  object  directly  before  his  eyes ;  rvhen  his  attention 
was  attracted,  he  would  gaze  steadily  upon  it,  and  in  a 
very  few  minutes  would  go  fast  asleep.  This  could  not  have 
been  a  catalepsy  caused  by  fright,  nor  could  it  have  been 
the  result  of  a  belief  in  his  inability  to  move,  nor  a  periphe¬ 
ral  stimulus  caused  by  friction  against  the  skin,  nor  could  it 
have  been  suggestion.  In  fact,  there  is  no  legitimate  con¬ 
clusion  apparent  except  that  it  was  a  true  hypnosis,  identical 
with  that  produced  on  human  beings  by  Braid’s  methods. 


^  Moll  on  Hypnotism,  p.  213. 


96  Tim  LAW  OF  rSYCHIC  niENOMENA. 

This  branch  of  the  subject  has  been  dwelt  upon  some¬ 
what  at  length,  not  merely  for  the  purpose  of  showing  that 
the  adherents  of  the  Nancy  school  carry  the  doctrine  of 
suggestion  too  far,  but  because  it  is  an  important  point  in 
the  study  of  the  subject,  and  throws  a  flood  of  light  upon 
many  important  and  perplexing  problems,  as  will  be  seen 
hereafter.  The  principle  to  be  borne  in  mind  is  this : 
hypnosis  can  be  produced  by  Braid’s  method  either  with 
or  without  the  aid  of  suggestion. 

This  does  not  militate  in  the  slightest  degree  against  the 
doctrine  of  suggestion  when  its  powers  and  limitations  are 
properly  understood.  It  still  remains  true  that  all  hypnotic 
phenomena  subsequent  to  the  induction  of  the  condition 
are  the  result  of  suggestion  in  some  form.  This  is  the 
grand  discovery  of  the  Nancy  school;  and  when  it  is  once 
appreciated  and  understood,  it  will  be  found  to  constitute 
the  master-key  which  will  unlock  the  secrets  of  every  psy¬ 
chological  mystery.  That  it  is  unqualifiedly  true  no  longer 
admits  of  serious  doubt ;  it  is  acknowledged  by  nearly 
every  scientist  in  the  civilized  world  who  has  given  the  sub¬ 
ject  intelligent  attention.  It  is  true  that  the  great  name  of 
Charcot  has  commanded  a  following ;  but  however  valuable 
may  have  been  his  observations  in  the  infancy  of  the  sci¬ 
ence,  it  has  become  obvious  to  most  of  his  former  followers 
that  his  fundamental  hypothesis  is  defective,  and  that  his 
conclusions  are  therefore  necessarily  unreliable. 

The  discussion  of  the  merits  of  the  Paris  school  will  be 
brief,  and  will  be  chiefly  confined  to  a  statement  of  the 
reasons  for  considering  its  experiments  and  conclusions 
unreliable,  and  to  pointing  out  a  few  of  the  more  obvious 
sources  of  its  errors. 

The  first  source  of  error  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  experi¬ 
ments  of  this  school  are  made  almost  exclusively  upon 
hysterical  women.  The  assumption  is  that  hypnotism  is  a 
nervous  disease,  and  that  the  disease  is  found  in  its  most 
pronounced  form  in  hysterical  subjects.  That  this  propo¬ 
sition  is  unqualifiedly  wrong  is  positively  known  to  every 
student  of  hypnotism  outside  the  Paris  school,  and  needs 


HYPNOTISM  AND  MESMERISM. 


97 


no  further  refutation  than  the  bare  statement  that  the  expe¬ 
rience  of  all  other  schools  goes  to  demonstrate  the  fact  that 
the  best  hypnotic  subjects  are  perfectly  healthy  persons. 

Another  source  of  error  lies  in  the  fact  that  they  ignore 
suggestion  as  a  necessary  factor  in  the  production  of  hyp¬ 
notic  phenomena.  Of  course  they  are  aware  of  the  potency 
of  suggestion  when  purposely  and  intelligently  employed ; 
but  they  hold  that  very  many  of  the  most  important  of  the 
phenomena  can  be  produced  without  its  aid.  These,  how¬ 
ever,  are  principally  physical  effects,  such  as  causing  any 
muscle  of  the  body  to  contract  by  pressing  upon  the  corre¬ 
sponding  nerve,  and  then  releasing  the  tension  by  exciting 
the  antagonistic  muscle.  The  condition  necessary  for  the 
production  of  this  phenomenon  is  called  by  Charcot,  “  neuro¬ 
muscular  hyperexcitability.”  In  the  able  and  interesting 
work  by  Binet  and  F^r^,  pupils  of  Charcot,  a  chapter  is 
devoted  to  this  branch  of  the  subject.  They  record,  with 
a  scientific  exactitude  that  is  very  edifying,  many  curious 
results  in  the  way  of  causing  contracture  of  various  muscles 
by  kneading,  pressure,  percussion,  etc.,  releasing  the  ten¬ 
sion  by  exciting  the  opposing  muscles,  and  transferring  the 
contractures  from  one  muscle  to  another  by  the  magnet. 
Then,  with  an  ingenuousness  that  is  truly  charming,  they 
add,  as  a  “singular  fact,”  that  “contractures  can  be  easily 
produced  in  many  hysterical  patients  in  their  waking  state, 
either  by  kneading  the  muscles,  by  pressure  on  the  nerves, 
or  by  striking  the  tendons.  These  contractures  in  the  wak¬ 
ing  state  are,  indeed,  of  the  same  nature  as  those  which 
occur  during  lethargy,  since  they  yield  to  the  excitement  of 
the  antagonistic  muscles,  and  may  be  transferred  by  the 
magnet.” 

After  this  admission  it  seems  superfluous  to  remark  that 
this  class  of  experiments  prove  nothing  more  than  that  the 
state  of  neuro-muscular  hyperexcitability  is  a  pathological 
symptom  common  to  hysterical  patients,  whether  in  the 
waking  state  or  in  hypnotic  lethargy.  They  certainly  prove 
nothing  which  can  be  construed  as  characteristic  of  hypno¬ 
tism  ;  and  the  Nancy  school  wastes  its  time  in  demonstrat- 

7 


98  THE  LA  W  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 

ing  that  the  symptoms  cannot  be  reproduced  in  healthy 
persons  except  by  the  aid  of  suggestion. 

Another  serious  error  into  which  the  Charcot  school  has 
fallen  in  its  elfort  to  eliminate  the  effects  of  suggestion  con¬ 
sists  in  the  assumption  that  subjects  in  the  lethargic  state 
know  nothing  of  what  is  passing  around  them,  either  ob¬ 
jectively  or  subjectively.  No  greater  mistake  is  possible. 
The  subjective  7nind  never  sleeps.  No  matter  how  profound 
the  lethargy,  it  is  ever  alert,  and  comprehends  instantly, 
with  preternatural  acuteness,  everything  that  occurs.  Pro¬ 
fessor  Bernheim,  in  the  preface  to  “  Suggestive  Therapeu¬ 
tics,”  makes  the  same  assertion.  He  says  : — 

“  One  should  first  be  aware  of  the  fact  that  in  all  degrees  of 
hypnosis  the  subject  hears  and  understands  everything,  even 
though  he  may  appear  inert  and  passive.  Sometimes  the  senses 
are  particularly  sharp  in  this  state  of  special  concentration,  as 
if  all  the  nervous  activity  were  accumulated  in  the  organ  of 
which  the  attention  is  solicited.” 

The  state  of  lethargy  is  that  in  which  Charcot  supposes 
his  subjects  to  be  incapable  of  receiving  a  suggestion. 
Acting  upon  that  hypothesis,  it  is  not  astonishing  that  he 
should  deceive  himself  as  well  as  the  students  and  specta¬ 
tors  attending  his  clinic.  He  believes  that  they  hear  noth¬ 
ing  when  they  hear  everything.  It  is  easy  to  see  how  every 
suggested  phenomenon  is  promptly  produced  under  such 
conditions.  But  there  is  one  phenomenon  of  which  the 
learned  professor  fails  to  note  the  significance,  and  that  is, 
that,  no  matter  how  profound  the  lethargy,  his  subject 
promptly  awakens  at  the  word  of  command. 

The  simple  truth  regarding  the  experiments  of  the  Paris 
school  is  in  a  nutshell.  Its  fundamental  error  lies  in  the 
assumption  that  hypnosis  has  a  purely  physical  origin,  and 
that  the  phenomena  are  explicable  on  physiological  prin¬ 
ciples.  The  phenomena  which  can  be  produced  indepen¬ 
dently  of  suggestion  are  purely  physical,  and  depend  upon 
the  physical  condition  of  neuro-muscular  hyperexcitability. 
That  this  is  true  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  the  physical  phe- 


HYPNOTISM  AND  MESMERISM. 


99 


nomena  produced  by  Charcot  upon  his  hysterical  patients 
cannot  be  produced  on  healthy  subjects  without  the  aid  of 
suggestion.  But  such  experiments  do  not  properly  belong 
to  the  domain  of  psychic  science  proper,  but  rather  to  the 
Bradian  system  of  physical  manipulation.  This  is  as  much 
as  confessed  by  Binet  and  F^re,  when  they  divulge  the  fact 
that  the  physical  phenomena  in  question  can  be  produced 
on  hysterical  patients  in  their  waking  condition. 

Another  prolific  source  of  error  which  besets  the  path¬ 
way  of  the  Paris  school  consists  in  its  disbelief  in,  and  con¬ 
sequent  disregard  of,  the  possibility  that  its  subjects  may 
be  possessed  of  clairvoyant  or  telepathic  powers.  That 
this  frequently  happens,  especially  in  subjects  of  the  char¬ 
acter  employed  by  Charcot  and  his  coadjutors,  admits  of  no 
possible  doubt  in  the  minds  of  those  who  have  studied  the 
higher  phases  of  hypnotic  science.  The  London  Society 
for  Psychical  Research  has  demonstrated  beyond  all  question 
the  fact  that  telepathy  is  a  power  possessed  by  many ;  and 
the  early  mesmerists  have  shown  conclusively  that  the  hyp¬ 
notic  condition  is  the  one  of  all  others  the  most  favorable 
for  the  development  and  exhibition  of  that  power.  This 
subject  will  be  dwelt  upon  more  at  length  in  its  proper 
place.  It  is  sufficient  for  present  purposes  to  remark  that 
no  line  of  experiments  in  hypnotism,  in  which  telepathy 
and  clairvoyance  are  ignored  as  possible  factors,  can  be 
held  to  be  demonstrative  of  any  proposition  or  theory  what¬ 
ever.  But  whatever  of  pathological  value  or  interest  may 
be  attached  to  the  physical  phenomena  evoked  by  the  Paris 
school,  they  certainly  shed  no  light  upon  psychological  sci¬ 
ence,  nor  do  they  properly  belong  to  that  domain. 

And  just  here  I  wish  to  suggest  a  reform  in  the  nomen¬ 
clature  of  the  science  under  consideration.  The  word 
“  hypnotism  ”  was  adopted  by  Braid  at  a  time  when  he 
regarded  himself  as  the  discoverer  of  a  principle  which  em¬ 
braced  the  whole  science  of  induced  sleep.  It  is  from  the 
Greek  word  “  hypnos,”  which  broadly  signifies  sleep.  But, 
without  some  qualifying  word,  it  is  too  broad,  inasmuch  as 
the  system  to  which  Braid  applied  it  is  now  known  to  be 


100  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 

but  one  of  many  processes  of  inducing  sleep.  He  imagined 
that  he  had  discovered  a  full  explanation  of  all  psychic 
phenomena  of  the  class  then  known  as  mesmeric ;  whereas 
he  had  only  discovered  the  one  fact  that  the  sleep  could 
be  induced  by  producing  an  abnormal  physical  condition 
of  certain  nerve-centres.  It  was  a  very  important  dis¬ 
covery,  for  psychic  science  would  be  incomplete  without 
it ;  but  it  does  not  constitute  the  whole  science.  It  does, 
however,  explain  many  phenomena  otherwise  inexplicable, 
and  marks  a  line  of  distinction  which  could  not  otherwise 
be  drawn.  The  methods  of  the  Charcot  school  are  essen¬ 
tially  Braidian,  and  hence  its  results  are  limited  largely  to 
physical  phenomena,  and  its  conclusions  necessarily  pertain 
to  physical  science. 

The  Nancy  school,  on  the  other  hand,  produces  all  its 
phenomena  by  oral  suggestion,  and  ignores  the  fact  that  the 
sleep  can  be  induced  in  the  absence  of  any  form  of  sug¬ 
gestion.  It  repudiates  Braid’s  method  of  inducing  it  as 
unnecessary,  and  also  as  injurious,  in  that  the  physical  dis¬ 
turbance  of  the  nerve-centres  unduly  excites  the  patient. 

The  mesmeric  school  differs  from  both  the  others  in 
methods  and  theory,  as  we  shall  see  further  on. 

It  seems  necessary,  therefore,  that  the  terminology  of  the 
science  should  be  changed  so  as  clearly  to  define  the  theo¬ 
retical  differences  of  the  three  schools.  It  is  obvious,  how¬ 
ever,  that  the  terminology  cannot  be  based  on  results,  for 
they  are  inextricably  intermingled.  Thus,  the  Braidian  or 
Charcot  operator  might  accidentally  produce  psychic  phe¬ 
nomena  identical  with  that  produced  by  the  mesmerists, 
and  vice  versa.  And  so  might  the  suggestive  school.  In¬ 
deed,  the  writings  of  both  schools  occasionally  betray  the 
fact  that  they  sometimes  catch  glimpses  of  something  in 
their  patients  which  defies  chemical  analysis,  and  cannot  be 
carved  with  the  scalpel. 

The  terminology  must,  therefore,  refer  to  the  methods  of 
inducing  the  subjective  state.  If  the  word  “  hypnotism  ”  is 
to  be  retained  because  it  embraces  all  degrees  of  induced 
sleep  by  whatsoever  process  it  may  have  been  induced,  it 


HYPNOTISM  AND  MESMERISM. 


lOI 


would  seem  proper  to  designate  the  Braidian  process  as 
physical  hypnotism,  the  Nancy  process  as  suggestive  hyp- 
notism,  and  the  mesmeric  process  as  magfietic,  or  fluidic, 
hypnotistn. 

I  merely  throw  this  out  as  a  suggestion  to  be  considered 
by  future  writers  on  the  subject.  For  my  own  purposes  I 
shall  hereafter  employ  the  word  “  hypnotism  ”  to  define 
the  Braidian  and  suggestive  processes  as  distinguished  from 
all  others  when  these  are  contrasted,  while  the  word  “  mes¬ 
merism  ”  will  be  employed  as  it  is  generally  understood. 
When  they  are  not  contrasted,  “  hypnotism  ”  will  be  used 
as  a  generic  term. 

Last  in  the  order  of  mention,  but  really  first  in  impor¬ 
tance,  is  the  school  of  mesmerism.  The  theory  of  the  mes¬ 
merists  has  undergone  little,  if  any,  modification  since  it 
was  first  promulgated  by  Mesmer  himself.  It  is,  as  before 
stated,  that  there  exists  in  man  a  subtle  fluid,  in  the  nature 
of  magnetism,  which,  by  means  of  passes  over  the  head  and 
body  of  the  subject,  accompanied  by  intense  concentration 
of  mind  and  will  on  the  part  of  the  operator,  can  be  made 
to  flow  from  the  ends  of  his  fingers  and  impinge  upon  the 
subject,  producing  sleep  and  all  the  varied  subsequent  phe¬ 
nomena  at  the  will  of  the  operator.  In  the  early  days  of 
mesmerism  suggestion  was  ignored  as  a  possible  factor  in 
the  production  of  the  phenomena,  this  law  not  having  been 
discovered  previous  to  the  experiments  of  Liebault.  The 
same  is  practically  true  to-day.  Mesmerism  has  made  very 
little  progress  within  the  last  half  century.  Its  votaries 
cling  to  the  old  theories  with  a  pertinacity  proportioned  to 
the  opposition  encountered  at  the  hands  of  the  hypnotists. 
On  the  whole,  the  progress  of  mesmeric  science,  per  se,  has 
been  backward  since  the  discoveries  of  Braid,  —  not  be¬ 
cause  Braid  disproved  the  fluidic  theory,  for  he  did  not 
disprove  it,  nor  did  he  claim  to  have  done  so,  but  for 
reasons  which  will  appear  in  their  proper  place. 

Suggestion  is  now,  as  before  the  discoveries  of  Liebault, 
ignored  by  mesmerists  as  a  necessary  factor  either  in  the 
induction  of  the  mesmeric  condition,  or  in  the  production 


102 


THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


of  the  subsequent  phenomena.  In  this  they  are  partly 
right  and  partly  wrong.  Suggestion,  in  the  ordinary  accep¬ 
tation  of  the  term,  —  that  is,  oral  suggestion,  —  is  not  an 
indispensable  factor  in  the  induction  of  the  condition.  This 
is  shown  in  a  great  variety  of  ways.  One  fact  alone  de¬ 
monstrates  the  principle,  and  that  is,  that  subjects  who 
have  been  often  mesmerized  by  a  particular  individual  can 
be  by  him  thrown  into  that  state,  under  certain  favorable 
conditions,  even  though  the  two  may  be  many  miles  apart. 
Account  is  not  taken  in  this  of  the  many  experiments  of 
the  old  mesmerists,  who  previously  informed  their  subjects 
of  the  intended  experiment.  But  many  instances  might  be 
cited  where  this  has  been  accomplished  under  test  condi¬ 
tions,  the  element  of  suggestion  being  carefully  eliminated. 
The  writer  has  mesmerized  a  subject  at  a  distance  of  three 
hundred  miles,  and  that  under  conditions  which  rendered 
oral  or  objective  suggestion  impossible.  Particular  instances 
will  not  be  cited  here,  for  the  reason  that  in  subsequent 
chapters  of  this  book  the  principle  involved  will  be  rendered 
so  plain  that  further  proofs  would  be  superfluous.  A 
further  demonstration  of  this  principle  lies  in  the  fact  that 
children,  too  young  to  understand  what  is  expected  of 
them,  and  animals  of  various  kinds,  can  be  mesmerized. 
This  is  abundantly  proved  by  the  experiments  of  Wilson, 
who,  as  early  as  1839,  mesmerized  elephants,  horses,  wolves, 
and  other  animals  in  London.  Obersteimer  states  that  in 
Austria  the  law  requires  army  horses  to  be  mesmerized  for 
the  purpose  of  shoeing  them.  This  process  was  introduced 
by  a  cavalry  officer  named  Balassa,  and  hence  it  has  been 
termed  and  is  now  known  as  “  the  Balassiren  of  horses  ” 
(Moll).  This  is  the  secret  of  the  celebrated  horse-tamers, 
Sullivan  and  Rarey.  By  their  methods  the  wildest  colts 
and  the  most  vicious  horses  could  be  subdued  in  an  hour. 
Mesmerism  is  the  power  exerted  by  the  lion-tamer  and 
the  snake-charmer.  The  power  is  often  exerted  uncon¬ 
sciously,  —  that  is,  without  a  knowledge  on  the  part  of 
the  operator  of  the  source  of  his  power. 

The  mesmerists  of  the  present  day  are  not,  of  course. 


HYPNOTISM  AND  MESMERISM.  1 03 

ignorant  or  unmindful  of  the  potency  of  suggestion  in  the 
production  of  mesmeric  phenomena  subsequent  to  the  in¬ 
duction  of  the  condition.  But,  like  the  Paris  school  of  hyp¬ 
notists,  they  hold  that  suggestion  plays  a  secondary  rdle  in 
the  production  of  many  of  the  phenomena.  That  they  are 
wrong  in  this  will  more  fully  appear  in  subsequent  chapters 
of  this  book. 

The  points  of  difference  between  the  three  schools  of 
this  science  have  now  been  reviewed,  and  the  theories  of 
each  briefly  stated.  It  is  found,  — 

1.  That  the  Nancy  school  attributes  all  the  phenomena, 
including  the  induction  of  the  state,  to  the  power  of  sug¬ 
gestion,  and  that  it  is  to  the  psychic  powers  and  attributes 
of  man  alone  that  we  must  look  for  an  explanation. 

2.  The  Paris  school,  on  the  other  hand,  ignores  sugges¬ 
tion  as  a  necessary  factor  either  in  the  induction  of  the 
state  or  in  the  production  of  subsequent  phenomena,  and 
seeks  an  explanation  of  the  subject-matter  on  the  bases  of 
physiology  and  celebral  anatomy. 

3.  The  mesmerists  ignore  suggestion  as  a  necessary  factor 
at  any  stage  of  their  experiments,  and  explain  the  whole  on 
the  magnetic  fluid  theory. 

We  also  find  three  distinct  methods  of  inducing  the  sleep  ; 
and  as  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  to  bear  the  different 
methods  in  mind,  they  will  be  here  restated  :  — 

The  Nancy  school,  true  to  its  theory,  employs  suggestion 
alone  to  induce  the  condition.  Passes  are  sometimes  made 
over  its  subjects  after  the  manner  of  the  mesmerists,  but 
only  with  a  view  of  giving  an  air  of  mystery  to  the  proceed¬ 
ings,  and  thus  adding  potency  to  the  suggestion. 

The  Paris  school  employs  physical  means  to  induce  the 
state  almost  exclusively.  They  are  practically  the  same  as 
those  employed  by  Braid,  namely,  causing  the  subject  to  gaze 
steadily  at  a  bright  object,  —  although  many  variations  of 
the  method  have  been  introduced,  such  as  flashing  an  elec¬ 
tric  light  in  the  eyes  of  the  subject,  striking  a  gong  without 
warning  close  to  his  ears,  or  by  some  peripheral  excitation, 
such  as  rubbing  the  scalp,  etc. 


104  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 

The  mesmeric  method  proper  consists  in  making  passes 
from  the  head  downwards,  gazing  fixedly  into  the  subject’s 
eyes,  and  concentrating  the  mind  upon  the  work  in  hand, 
strongly  willing  the  subject  to  sleep.  It  is  true  that  many 
of  the  so-called  mesmerists  now  employ  Braid’s  method  en¬ 
tirely,  and  others  depend  largely  upon  suggestion.  But  the 
true  mesmeric  method  is  as  has  been  stated. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

HYPNOTISM  AND  MESMERISM  {continued). 

Mesmeric  Methods.  —  The  Fluidic  Theory.  —  Influence  of  the  Mind  of 
the  Operator.  —  The  Early  Mesmerists.  —  Their  Methods  and  their 
Effects.  —  Decadence  of  the  Higher  Phenomena  under  Braid’s 
Methods.  —  The  Causes  explained.  —  Telepathic  Powers  devel¬ 
oped  by  Mesmerism.  —  Mesmerism  as  a  Therapeutic  Agent. — 
Method  of  Operation  recommended.  —  How  to  acquire  the  Power. 
—  The  Necessary  Conditions  of  Success.  —  Will  Power  ex¬ 
plained. —  The  Fluidic  Theory  requires  Revision.  —  Distinction 
between  Mesmerism  and  Hypnotism  sharply  drawn.  —  Mesmeri- 
zation  of  Animals  distinguished  from  the  Hypnotization  of  Ani¬ 
mals. —  Methods  employed  in  Each. — Tamers  of  Horses  and 
Wild  Beasts.  —  Dog-Trainers. —  Primitive  Man.  —  His  Powers. — 
His  Immunity  from  Harm.  —  Daniel.  —  The  Adepts.  —  General 
Conclusions. 

'^HAT  the  magnetic  hypothesis  of  the  mesmerists  has 
*  many  facts  to  sustain  it  cannot  be  denied.  The  ex¬ 
perience  of  thousands  goes  to  show  that  when  passes  are 
made  over  them,  even  at  a  distance  of  several  feet,  a  sensation 
is  felt  akin  to  a  gentle  shock  of  electricity,  which  produces 
a  remarkably  soothing  effect  upon  the  nervous  system,  and 
eventually  produces  the  mesmeric  sleep.  It  is  also  known 
that  when  patients  are  mesmerized  for  therapeutic  pur¬ 
poses,  and  passes  are  made  over  the  affected  part,  the  same 
soothing  effect  is  produced,  and  pain  is  relieved.  In  fact, 
if  we  consider  mesmerism  solely  as  a  therapeutic  agent,  and 
study  it  from  that  standpoint  alone,  the  fluidic  hypothesis 
is  perhaps  as  good  as  any.  But  when  we  come  to  study 
mesmeric  phenomena  as  a  part,  and  only  a  very  small  part, 


I06  THE  LAW  OF  FSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


of  a  grand  system  of  psychological  science ;  when  we  ex¬ 
amine  it  in  its  relations  to  other  phenomena  of  a  cognate 
character,  —  it  is  found  that  the  fluidic  theory  snould  oe 
received  with  some  qualification. 

The  first  thought  which  strikes  the  observer  is  that,  ad¬ 
mitting  the  fluidic  theory  to  be  substantially  correct,  the 
fluid  is  directed  and  controlled  entirely  by  the  mind  of  the 
operator.  It  is  well  known  that  passes  effect  little  or  noth¬ 
ing  if  the  attention  of  the  operator  is  distracted,  from  any 
cause  whatever.  The  subject  may  be  put  to  sleep,  it  is 
true,  solely  by  the  power  of  suggestion ;  but  the  peculiar 
effects  of  mesmerism,  as  distinguished  from  those  of  hyp¬ 
notism,  will  be  found  wanting.  The  effects  here  alluded  to 
consist  mainly  of  the  development  of  the  higher  phenom¬ 
ena,  such  as  clairvoyance  and  telepathy. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  early  mesmerists  constantly  and 
habitually  developed  telepathic  powers  in  their  subjects. 
Causing  their  subjects  to  obey  mental  orders  was  a  common 
platform  experiment  half  a  century  ago.  These  experi¬ 
ments  were  often  made,  under  test  conditions,  by  the  most 
careful  and  conscientious  scientists,  and  the  results  are  re¬ 
corded  in  the  many  volumes  on  the  subject  written  at  the 
.:me.  Many  of  these  works  were  written  by  scientists  whose 
methods  of  investigation  were  painstaking  and  accurate  to 
the  last  degree.  In  the  light  of  the  developments  of  mod¬ 
ern  science,  in  the  light  of  the  demonstrations,  by  the 
members  of  the  London  Society  for  the  Promotion  of 
Psychical  Research,  of  the  existence  of  telepathic  power, 
we  cannot  read  the  works  of  the  old  mesmerists  without 
having  the  conviction  forced  upon  us  that  telepathy  was 
developed  by  their  experiments  to  a  degree  almost  un¬ 
known  at  the  present  day.  Why  it  is  that  the  power  to  de¬ 
velop  that  phenomenon  by  mesmerists  has  been  lost  or  has 
fallen  into  desuetude,  is  a  question  of  the  gravest  scientific 
interest  and  importance.  The  hostility  and  ridicule  of  the 
academicians  undoubtedly  had  its  effect  on  many  minds, 
and  caused  many  scientific  investigators  to  shrink  from 
publicly  avowing  their  convictions  or  the  results  of  their 


HYPNOTISM  AND  MESMERISM.  107 

investigations.  But  that  does  not  account  for  the  fact  that 
mesmerists,  who  believe  in  the  verity  of  the  phenomena, 
are  rarely  able  to  produce  it  at  the  present  day. 

The  first  question  which  presents  itself  is  one  of  dates. 
When  did  the  higher  phenomena  show  the  first  signs  of 
decadence?  A  moment’s  reflection  will  fix  it  at  or  about 
the  date  of  the  promulgation  of  the  theories  of  Dr.  Braid. 
It  is  a  historic  fact,  well  known  to  all  who  have  watched 
the  progress  of  hypnotic  science,  that  as  soon  as  it  was 
found  that  the  mesmeric  or  hypnotic  sleep  could  be  in¬ 
duced  by  causing  the  subject  to  gaze  upon  a  bright  object 
held  before  his  eyes,  all  other  methods  were  practically 
abandoned.  It  was  much  easier  to  hold  an  object  before 
the  subject’s  eyes  for  a  few  minutes,  with  the  mind  at  rest, 
than  to  make  passes  over  him  for  an  indefinite  length  of 
time,  accompanying  the  passes  by  fixity  of  gaze  and  intense 
concentration  of  mind.  The  important  point  to  bear  in 
mind  right  here  is  the  fact  that  in  the  old  mesmeric  method, 
fixity  of  gaze  and  concentration  of  will  on  the  part  of  the 
operator,  were  considered  indispensable  to  success.  It 
seems  clear,  then,  that  it  is  to  this  change  of  methods  that 
we  must  look  for  an  explanation  of  the  change  in  results. 
That  being  conceded,  we  must  inquire  how  the  conditions 
were  changed  by  the  change  of  methods.  What  effects,  if 
any,  either  in  the  condition  of  the  subject  or  of  the  opera¬ 
tor,  or  in  both,  are  missing  when  the  new  methods  are 
applied  ? 

It  is  now  necessary  to  recall  to  mind  the  fact  (i)  that 
Braid  demonstrated  that  suggestion  is  not  a  necessary 
factor  in  the  induction  of  the  hypnotic  state  ;  and  (2)  that 
steadily  gazing  upon  an  object  will  induce  the  condition 
in  a  more  or  less  marked  degree,  whether  the  subject  is 
expecting  the  result  or  not.  The  intelligent  student  will 
so  readily  recall  thousands  of  facts  demonstrating  this 
proposition  that  it  is  safe  to  set  it  down  as  an  axiom  in 
hypnotic  science  that  intense  gazing  upon  an  object,  accom¬ 
panied  by  concentration  of  mind,  will  displace  the  thresh¬ 
old  of  consciousness  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  depending 


I08  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


upon  the  mental  characteristics  of  the  individual  and  the 
circumstances  surrounding  him.  The  subjective  powers  are 
thus  brought  into  play.  The  subjective  mind  is  released, 
or  elevated  above  the  threshold  of  consciousness,  and  per¬ 
forms  its  functions  independently  of,  or  synchronously  with, 
the  objective  mind,  just  in  proportion  to  the  degree  of 
hypnosis  induced.  It  may  be  only  in  a  slight  degree,  it 
may  be  imperceptible  to  those  surrounding  him,  or  it  may 
reach  a  state  of  complete  hypnosis,  as  in  the  cases  men¬ 
tioned  by  Braid;  but  certain  it  is  that  the  subjective  pow¬ 
ers  will  be  evoked  in  exact  proportion  to  the  degree  of 
causation.  The  conclusion  is  obvious  and  irresistible  that 
when  a  mesmerist  employs  the  old  methods  of  inducing  the 
subjective  state,  —  passes,  fixed  gazing,  and  mental  concen¬ 
tration,  —  he  hypnotizes  hhnself  by  the  same  act  by  which  he 
mesmerizes  the  subject. 

The  far-reaching  significance  of  this  fact  will  be  instantly 
apparent  to  those  who  are  aware  that  telepathy  is  the  nor¬ 
mal  means  of  communication  between  two  subjective  minds, 
and  that  it  is  only  between  subjective  minds  that  telepathy 
can  be  employed.  The  objective  mind  has  no  part  or  lot 
in  telepathy  until  the  threshold  of  consciousness  is  dis¬ 
placed  so  as  to  enable  the  objective  mind  to  take  cogniz¬ 
ance  of  the  message.  It  will  be  understood,  therefore, 
that  when  the  subject  is  mesmerized,  and  all  his  objective 
senses  are  in  complete  abeyance,  and  the  operator  with 
whom  he  is  en  rapport  is  in  a  partially  subjective  state,  the 
conditions  exist  which  render  possible  the  exhibition  of 
telepathic  powers. 

This  is  what  was  meant  when  it  was  said  in  an  earlier 
chapter  of  this  book  that  the  discoveries  of  Braid  had 
really  served  to  retard  the  progress  of  hypnotic  science ; 
not  because  his  discoveries  are  not  of  the  utmost  practical 
value,  but  because  much  of  their  true  significance  has  been 
misunderstood.  The  fact  that  persons  can  be  hypnotized 
by  his  methods,  and  that  many  of  the  phenomena  common 
to  mesmerism  can  be  produced  by  that  means,  is  a  fact  of 
vast  importance  ;  but  it  is  only  one  link  in  the  great  chain. 


HYPNOTISM  AND  MESMERISM. 


109 


and  not  the  whole  chain,  as  his  followers  would  have  us 
believe.  The  later  discovery  of  the  law  of  suggestion  was 
also  of  the  most  transcendent  interest  and  importance  ;  but 
it  is  not  the  whole  law  of  psychic  science.  This,  too,  has 
helped  to  retard  the  progress  of  the  science  in  its  higher 
branches.  When  it  was  discovered  that  suggestion  by  itself 
could  induce  the  hypnotic  state.  Braid’s  methods  were  in 
turn  abandoned  by  students  of  the  science.  This  was  partly 
because  it  was  easier  than  Braid’s  method,  and  partly  be¬ 
cause  it  produced  less  physical  and  mental  excitement,  and 
hence,  for  therapeutic  purposes,  was  less  liable  to  excite  the 
patient  unduly.  But  the  fact  remains  that  neither  by  Braid- 
ism  nor  by  the  suggestive  method  can  the  subject  ordina¬ 
rily  be  made  to  respond  telepathically.  It  is  true  that  there 
might  be  exceptions  to  the  rule.  If,  for  instance,  the  ope¬ 
rator  in  employing  either  of  the  methods  should  come  in 
physical  contact  with  the  subject,  and  should  at  the  same 
time  happen  to  concentrate  his  gaze  upon  some  object  for 
a  length  of  time,  and  fix  his  mind  upon  the  work  in  hand, 
he  would  be  very  likely  to  come  into  telepathic  communi¬ 
cation  with  the  subject.  That  this  has  often  happened 
there  can  be  no  doubt ;  and  it  constitutes  one  of  the  pos¬ 
sible  sources  of  error  which  lie  in  the  pathway  both  of  the 
Paris  and  the  Nancy  schools.  It  is  perhaps  superfluous  to 
remark  that  the  higher  phenomena  of  hypnotism  can  only 
be  developed  with  certainty  of  results  by  throwing  aside 
our  prejudices  against  the  fluidic  theory,  and  employing  the 
old  mesmeric  methods. 

In  this  connection  it  is  deemed  proper  to  offer  a  few 
suggestions  as  to  the  best  methods  to  be  employed  for 
producing  mesmeric  effects,  either  for  therapeutic  or  for 
any  other  purposes. 

It  is  recommended,  for  several  reasons,  that  the  mes¬ 
meric  passes  be  employed.  First,  they  are  so  generally 
believed  to  be  necessary  that  they  greatly  assist  by  way  of 
suggestion.  Secondly,  they  are  a  great  assistance  to  the 
operator,  as  they  enable  him  more  effectually  to  concen¬ 
trate  his  mind  upon  the  work  in  hand,  and  to  fix  his  atten- 


I  lO 


THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


tion  upon  the  parts  which  he  desires  to  affect.  Thirdly, 
they  operate  as  a  suggestion  to  the  operator  himself,  which 
is  as  necessary  and  as  potent  to  effect  the  object  sought  as 
is  suggestion  to  the  subject.  Fourthly,  whether  the  fluidic 
theory  is  correct  or  not,  the  power,  whatever  it  is,  appears 
to  flow  from  the  fingers ;  and,  inasmuch  as  it  appears  to  do 
so,  the  effect,  both  upon  the  mind  of  the  operator  and  of  the 
subject,  is  the  same  as  if  it  were  so,  —  the  great  desideratu7n 
being  the  confidence  of  both. 

The  most  important  point  to  be  gained,  however,  is  self- 
confidence  in  the  mind  of  the  operator.  Without  that  no 
greater  results  can  be  produced  by  mesmeric  methods  than 
by  the  process  of  simple  oral  suggestion.  The  latter  affects 
the  mind  of  the  subject  alone,  and  all  the  subsequent  effects 
are  due  solely  to  the  action  of  his  mind.  Mesmeric  meth¬ 
ods,  on  the  other  hand,  if  properly  applied,  supplement  the 
effects  of  oral  suggestion  by  a  constant  force  emanating 
from  the  subjective  mind  of  the  operator.  In  order  to 
evoke  that  force  it  is  necessary  for  the  operator  to  inspire 
his  own  subjective  mind  with  confidence.  This  can  be 
done  by  the  simple  process  of  auto-suggestion.  The  power 
to  do  this  does  not  depend  upon  his  objective  belief.  The 
power  to  control  subjective  belief  is  inherent  in  the  object¬ 
ive  mind ;  and  that  control  can  be  made  absolute,  even  in 
direct  contradiction  to  objective  belief.  If,  therefore,  the 
mesmeric  operator  doubts  his  power  over  his  subject,  he 
can,  nevertheless,  exert  all  the  necessary  force  simply  by 
reiterated  affirmation  to  himself  that  he  possesses  that 
power.  This  affirmation  need  not,  and  perhaps  should 
not,  be  uttered  aloud.  But  it  should  be  constantly  reite¬ 
rated  mentally  while  the  passes  are  being  made ;  and  if  in 
addition  to  this  he  concentrates  his  gaze  upon  the  open  or 
closed  eyes  of  the  subject,  or  upon  any  part  of  the  head  or 
face,  the  effect  will  be  all  the  more  powerful.  Whatever 
effect  is  desired  should  be  formulated  in  the  mind  of  the 
operator,  and  reiterated  with  persistency  until  it  is  produced. 
The  principle  involved  is  obvious,  and  easily  understood. 
The  subject  is  passive,  and  receptive  of  subjective  mental 


HYPNOTISM  AND  MESMERISM. 


Ill 


impressions.  The  subjective  mind  of  the  operator  is 
charged  with  faith  and  confidence  by  auto-suggestion. 
That  faith  is  impressed  telepathically  upon  the  subjective 
mind  of  the  patient ;  and  even  though  his  objective  be¬ 
lief  may  not  coincide  with  the  subjective  impression  thus 
received,  the  latter  obtains  control  unconsciously  to  the 
subject,  and  the  end  is  accomplished. 

The  power  to  mesmerize  by  this  method  is  within  the 
reach  of  any  one  with  sufficient  intelligence  to  understand 
the  directions,  and  sufficient  mental  balance  to  follow  them 
with  persistency ;  provided  always  the  subject  is  willing  to 
be  mesmerized,  and  is  possessed  of  the  requisite  mental 
equilibrium  to  enable  him  to  become  passive  and  receptive. 

All  mesmerists  and  all  hypnotists  agree  in  holding  that 
self-confidence  is  a  necessary  part  of  the  mental  equipment 
of  the  successful  operator.  This  is  true.  It  is  also  true 
that  the  possession  of  the  requisite  confidence  is  the  one 
thing  which  distinguishes  the  successful  from  the  unsuccess¬ 
ful  operator.  The  foregoing  remarks  show  how  that  confi¬ 
dence  can  be  commanded,  in  spite  of  objective  unbelief. 

Much  has  been  said  by  mesmerists  about  the  exertion  of 
“will  power;”  but  no  one  has  ever  explained  just  how 
that  power  is  to  be  exerted,  or  in  what  it  consists.  Most 
people  seem  to  imagine  that  it  is  exercised  by  compressing 
the  lips,  corrugating  the  brows,  and  assuming  a  fierce, 
determined,  not  to  say  piratical,  aspect.  It  is  perhaps 
needless  to  remark  that  the  attitude  of  mind  indicated  by 
such  an  aspect  is  the  farthest  possible  from  that  which  is 
required  for  the  successful  exercise  of  so-called  will  power. 
It  requires  no  mental  or  nervous  strain  to  exert  that  power. 
On  the  contrary,  a  calm  serenity  of  mind  is  indispensable. 
When  that  is  acquired,  the  only  other  requisites  are  confi¬ 
dence  and  an  earnest  desire  to  bring  about  the  results 
sought.  That  these  three  requisites  can  easily  be  acquired 
by  any  one  of  common  intelligence  has  already  been 
shown. 

From  what  has  been  said  it  seems  evident  that  the  force 
developed  by  mesmeric  manipulations  has  its  origin  in 


1 12  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 

mental  action.  That  that  is  the  motive  power  is  certain. 
Whether  this  mental  action  creates  or  develops  a  fluid  akin 
to  magnetism,  is  a  question  which  may  never  be  solved. 
Nor  is  it  deemed  important  that  it  should  be;  and  it  may 
be  as  well  to  class  it  at  once  among  the  many  things  un¬ 
knowable,  as  to  waste  valuable  time  in  a  vain  effort  to 
wrest  the  secret  from  Nature.  Electricity  is  known  as  a 
great  force  in  physical  nature ;  and  it  is  harnessed  and 
made  to  perform  many  services  to  mankind.  Like  all  the 
great  forces  of  nature,  it  is  invisible,  except  through  its 
effects,  and  it  defies  analysis.  It  will  never  be  known  to 
man  except  as  one  of  the  great  correlated  forces.  It  is 
equally  impossible  to  know  just  what  the  force  is  which 
emanates  from  the  mesmerist  and  controls  his  subject.  We 
know  that  it  exists,  and  that  it  can  be  utilized,  and  that  is 
all.  Whether  it  is  a  fluid  or  not  is  as  impossible  to  know 
with  certainty  as  it  is  to  know  what  electricity  is  made  of, 
if  we  should  determine  it  to  be  a  substance. 

For  some  purposes,  as  has  been  remarked,  the  fluidic 
hypothesis  is  as  good  as  any,  and  for  such  purposes  it  may 
be  provisionally  accepted.  But  the  question  is,  Will  that 
hypothesis  apply  to  all  the  phenomena?  If  that  question 
is  answered  in  the  negative,  it  demonstrates  its  incorrect¬ 
ness,  and  it  becomes  imperative  that  it  should  be  aban¬ 
doned.  When  mesmeric  passes  are  made  over  a  patient,  a 
fluid  appears  to  emanate  from  the  hands  of  the  operator. 
An  effluence  of  some  kind  certainly  does  come  from  that 
source,  and  one  that  is  perceptible  to  the  physical  senses  of 
the  patient.  Is  it  not  a  fact,  nevertheless,  that  the  passes 
are  principally  useful  as  a  means  of  controlling  the  minds 
both  of  the  subject  and  the  operator?  There  are  many 
facts  which  seem  to  point  unmistakably  in  that  direction. 
The  one  fact  alone  that  persons  can  be  mesmerized  at  a 
distance,  seems  conclusive.  No  passes  are  then  made,  and 
yet  all  the  effects  of  personal  contact  are  produced.  Thou¬ 
sands  of  persons  have  been  healed  at  a  distance,  by  simple 
concentration  of  mind  on  the  part  of  the  operator,  the 
patient  knowing  absolutely  nothing  of  the  proposed  experi- 


HYPNOTISM  AND  MESMERISM.  I13 

ment.  This  branch  of  the  subject  will  be  more  fully  treated 
in  a  future  chapter  on  psycho-therapeutics.  It  is  sufficient 
to  remark  now  that  the  method  of  healing  here  indicated  is, 
when  intelligently  applied,  the  most  effective  of  all  systems 
of  mental  therapeutics.  And  the  significant  fact  is  that  in 
the  majority  of  cases  the  best  results  are  produced  when 
the  patient  is  kept  in  absolute  ignorance  of  what  is  being 
done  for  him.  The  reason  for  this  will  more  fully  appear 
as  we  proceed. 

Again,  the  manner  of  mesmerizing  animals  is  proof  posi¬ 
tive  that  the  successful  exercise  of  mesmeric  power  is  not 
dependent  upon  passes  made  by  the  hand  of  the  operator, 
for  the  usual  method  is  to  gaze  steadily  into  the  eyes  of  the 
animal. 

And  this  brings  us  to  the  discussion  of  some  important 
distinctions  pertaining  to  the  mesmerization  of  animals, 
which  seem  not  to  have  been  observed  by  the  investigators 
of  that  subject,  but  which  show  more  clearly  than  almost 
anything  else  the  line  of  distinction  between  hypnotism  and 
mesmerism. 

The  intelligent  reader  will  not  have  failed  to  observe  that 
the  effect  produced  upon  hens,  frogs,  crayfish,  guinea-pigs, 
and  birds  is  purely  hypnotic.  The  methods  employed  are 
Braid’s.  That  is  to  say,  they  are  purely  physical,  sometimes 
produced  by  sudden  peripheral  stimulus,  as  in  flashing  a 
Drummond  light  in  the  eyes  of  a  cock  (Richer).  But  in 
general  the  external  stimulus  used  with  animals  is  tactile,  as 
in  seizing  them  (Moll)  \  or  in  causing  them  to  gaze  upon 
an  object,  as  in  Kircher’s  method  of  hypnotizing  a  cock ; 
or  in  gently  stroking  the  back,  as  in  hypnotizing  a  frog  or  a 
crayfish.  Each  of  these  methods  may  be  classified  as  a 
hypnotic  process,  and  the  full  equivalent  of  the  method  dis¬ 
covered  by  Braid.  The  effect  is  also  purely  hypnotic ;  that 
is  to  say,  sleep  is  induced,  varying  in  degree  from  a  light 
slumber  to  a  profound  lethargy. 

On  the  other  hand,  such  animals  as  horses,  wild  beasts, 
etc.,  may  be  mesmerized,  but  not  hypnotized.  The  pro¬ 
cesses  are  purely  mesmeric,  and  generally  consist  in  gazing 

8 


1 14  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 

into  the  animal’s  eyes.  The  effect  is  simply  to  render  the 
animal  docile,  and  obedient  to  the  will  of  the  operator.  No 
one  was  ever  able  to  put  an  animal  to  sleep  by  gazing  in¬ 
to  its  eyes  ;  but  the  most  ferocious  of  the  animal  tribe  may 
be  tamed  and  subjected  to  the  dominion  of  man  by  that 
simple  process.  A  celebrated  horse-tamer,  who  travelled 
through  this  country  a  few  years  ago,  was  in  the  habit  of 
astonishing  and  amusing  his  audiences  by  selecting  the 
wildest  horse  present,  walking  up  to  him,  gazing  into  his 
eyes  (apparently)  for  a  few  moments,  and  walking  away, 
when  the  horse  would  follow  him  wherever  he  went,  appar¬ 
ently  as  perfectly  fascinated  as  any  hypnotic  or  mesmeric 
subject  was  ever  fascinated  by  a  professional  mesmerist. 
A  close  observation  of  the  horse-tamer’s  methods  revealed 
the  fact  that  he  simply  rolled  his  eyes  upward  and  inward, 
precisely  as  Braid  compelled  his  subjects  to  do  by  holding 
a  bright  object  before  their  eyes.  He  did  not  gaze  into 
the  eyes  of  the  horse  at  all,  but  simply  held  himself  in  that 
attitude  for  a  few  moments,  in  close  proximity  to  the  horse’s 
head,  when  the  object  was  accomplished,  and  the  horse 
became  obedient  to  every  command  that  it  was  capable  of 
comprehending.  It  is  probable  that  the  horse-tamer  knew 
as  little  of  the  secret  of  his  power  as  did  the  horse.  The 
tamers  of  wild  beasts  proceed  in  the  same  manner,  and 
probably  with  as  little  knowledge  of  the  principles  under¬ 
lying  the  method. 

Now,  the  question  arises.  What  is  the  effect  thus  produced 
on  the  animal?  It  is  certainly  not  hypnotized  by  Ueing 
compelled  to  gaze  into  the  eyes  of  the  operator,  for  suffi¬ 
cient  time  is  not  given  to  “  fatigue  the  muscles  of  the  eye.” 
Besides,  the  animal  cannot  be  compelled  to  gaze  at  any¬ 
thing.  Is  not  the  primary  effect  —  hypnotic  or  mesmeric 
—  produced,  not  directly  upon  the  animal,  but  upon  the  man 
himself  ?  It  seems  clear  that  this  is  the  true  solution  of  the 
problem.  Braid  has  taught  us  that  by  steadily  gazing  at 
any  object  a  man  can  hypnotize  himself  without  knowing,  or 
having  it  suggested  to  him,  that  it  is  possible  for  him  to  do 
so.  The  man,  then,  is  partially  hypnotized  by  gazing  into 


HYPNOTISM  AND  MESMERISM. 


II5 

the  animal’s  eyes.  The  threshold  of  his  consciousness  is 
thus  displaced.  His  subjective  powers  are  brought  into 
play,  and  in  that  condition  his  subjective  mind  is  cn  rap¬ 
port  with  that  of  the  animal.  The  mind  of  the  animal, 
being  almost  purely  subjective,  is  thus  dominated  by  the 
imperious  will  of  his  master,  —  man.  That  telepathy  is 
the  normal  means  of  communication  between  animals 
cannot  be  doubted  by  any  one  who  has  observed  their 
habits  with  intelligence.  That  man  has  the  power,  under 
certain  conditions,  to  enter  into  telepathic  communication 
with  animals,  there  are  thousands  of  facts  to  demonstrate. 
In  a  recent  English  work  on  the  training  of  dogs,'  this  sub¬ 
ject  is  alluded  to  in  the  following  language  :  — 

“  As  I  before  remarked,  a  man  to  be  a  first-rate  dog-breaker 
must  have  lots  of  animal  magnetism.  Now,  I  do  not  doubt  that 
in  nearly  every  man  who  is  born  into  the  world  this  faculty  ex¬ 
ists  to  a  greater  or  less  extent.  It  is  the  force  of  will  that  de¬ 
velops  it ;  and  the  more  it  is  developed,  the  stronger  it  becomes. 
While,  on  the  other  hand,  if  the  will  is  naturally  weak,  and  no 
other  pains  are  taken  to  strengthen  it,  it  falls  into  abeyance,  and 
in  time,  I  think,  is  utterly  lost,  —  and  that  sometimes  beyond 
recall. 

“  That  there  is  such  a  power  as  this,  no  one  who  has  ever  had 
any  experience  with  animals  will  attempt  to  deny.  Take  the 
horse,  for  instance.  This  is  the  easiest  subject  on  which  to 
exert  the  power,  simply  because  the  rider,  and  even  the  driver, 
is  in  closer'  contact  with  it  than  with  any  other  animal. 

“  As  an  example,  take  two  somewhat  timid,  highly  bred  young 
horses,  and  put  them  side  by  side  at  the  tail  of  a  flying  pack  of 
hounds.  Both  their  riders  are  equally  good  men  as  far  as  nerve, 
hands,  and  seat  are  concerned  ;  but  the  one  is  a  cut-and-thrust, 
whip-and-spur  sort  of  fellow,  while  the  other  is  a  cool,  quiet, 
deliberate  customer,  of  sweet  manners  but  iron  will.  As  they 
cross  the  first  half-a-dozen  flying  fences,  side  by  side,  it  wants 
a  keen  eye  to  mark  any  difference  in  the  execution.  The  differ¬ 
ence,  as  a  rule,  will  consist  only  in  the  different  ways  in  which 
the  horses  land  after  their  jumps,  —  the  one  will  pitch  a  little 
heavily,  a  little  ‘  abroad,’  a  little  as  if  he  got  there  somehow, 
but  did  not  quite  know  how ;  whilst  the  other  will  land  lightly, 

'  Scientific  Education  of  Dogs.  By  H.  H.  London,  p.  85. 


Il6  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


exactly  in  the  right  spot,  and  precisely  as  if  the  two  partners  were 
one. 

“  How  comes  this?  One  horse  is  being  steered  by  physical 
power  and  science  only ;  the  other  by  a  wonderful  force,  which 
joins  together  in  one  two  minds  and  two  bodies. 

“  Now,  see  the  test.  Yonder  waves  a  line  of  willows,  and 
both  riders  know  that  the  biggest  and  nastiest  water  jump  in 
the  county  is  ahead  of  them.  Both  equally  mean  to  get  over ; 
but  if  they  do,  it  will  be  in  two  different  fashions  :  the  one  will 
compel  his  horse  to  jump  it  by  sheer  physical  force  ;  the  other 
will  jump  it,  if  it  is  jumpable  at  all,  as  the  ‘  senior  partner  ’  of 
the  animal  he  bestrides.  Down  they  go,  sixty  yards  apart,  and 
each,  say,  has  picked  a  place  which  it  is  only  just  possible  for  a 
horse  to  cover ;  neither  horse  can  turn  his  head ;  for,  at  the  last 
stride,  the  velvet  hands  have  become  grips  of  iron.  Splash  goes 
Number  i ;  he  went  as  far  as  he  could  :  but  that  last  two  feet 
wanted  just  an  impetus  which  was  absent.  How  about  Number 
2  ?  The  rider  has  fixed  his  eye,  and  his  mind  with  it,  on  yonder 
grassy  spot  on  the  other  side  of  the  water,  and,  sure  enough,  the 
fore-feet  are  simply  ‘  lifted  ’  into  it  by  something  inward,  not  out¬ 
ward  ;  but  only  the  fore-feet.  Still,  the  calculation  of  the  strung- 
up  mind  has  entered  into  that,  the  stirrups  have  been  cast  loose 
in  the  ‘  fly,’  and  the  moment  the  hoofs  touch  the  bank,  the  rider 
is  over  his  horse’s  head,  with  reins  in  hand  ;  a  second  more,  the 
horse  is  beside  him ;  yet  another,  and  they  are  away  forward, 
without  losing  more  than  a  minute. 

“  Assheton  Smith  expressed  in  so7ne  manner  —  but  only  in 
some  manner  —  what  I  mean  in  his  well-known  dictum,  ‘Throw 
your  heart  over  a  fence,  and  your  horse  is  sure  to  follow.’ 

“  I  could  give  hundreds  of  instances  and  anecdotes  of  this 
magnetic  power  of  the  rider  over  the  horse,  but  one  will  suffice 
to  prove  my  point. 

“  I  was  out  for  a  ride  one  day  with  an  argumentative  friend 
along  the  road,  and  was  on  a  very  celebrated  old  hunter  that 
had  been  my  friend  and  partner  for  many  a  season.  We 
were  talking  on  this  subject,  and  my  friend  scoffed  at  the  very 
idea  of  such  a  thing  as  a  sort  of  visionary  nonsense.  A  hun¬ 
dred  yards  ahead  there  was  an  intersecting  cross-road,  at  right 
angles  to  that  on  which  we  were  riding.  I  pulled  up  my  horse. 

“‘Now,’  I  said,  ‘look  here;  I  will  prove  my  theory  to  you. 
Choose  and  tell  me  which  of  these  roads  my  horse  shall  take. 
You  shall  ride  three  lengths  behind  me;  I  will  throw  the  reins 
on  his  neck,  and  I  will  bet  you  a  sovereign  he  goes  the  way  I 
will  him ;  and  you  shall  be  the  judge  whether  it  is  possible  for 


HYPNOTISM  AND  MESMERISM.  \\J 

me  to  have  influenced  him  by  any  word,  touch,  or  sign,  — only, 
you  must  keep  at  a  walk,  and  not  utter  a  word  or  a  sound.’ 

“  He  made  the  bet,  and  fixed  on  the  right  hand  cross-road  as 
being  the  one  he  knew  very  well  the  horse  had  never  been 
before,  whilst  the  two  others  were  both  roads  to  ‘  meets.’ 

“  I  simply  fixed  my  eyes  and  my  will  on  the  road,  and  when 
the  horse  arrived  at  the  spot,  he  turned  down  with  the  same 
alacrity  as  if  his  stable  had  been  in  full  view. 

“  I  need  not  say  that  I  have  many  times  tried  the  same  ex¬ 
periment,  and  that  with  many  variations  and  many  different 
horses,  and  hardly  ever  failed,  —  indeed,  on  American  prairies  I 
have  found  the  habit  once  or  twice  a  dangerous  nuisance,  inas¬ 
much  as  the  then  involuntary  exercise  of  the  power  has,  when  I 
have  been  myself  lost,  influenced  the  horse  to  go  the  wrong  way, 
because  I  was  thinking  it  was  the  right  one,  whereas,  if  he  had 
been  let  alone,  he  would  not  have  made  a  mistake. 

“  Now,  this  magnetic  power  can  be  used  with  dogs,  only  in  an 
inferior  degree  to  horses.” 

The  author  then  goes  on  to  relate  numerous  instances, 
some  of  them  truly  marvellous,  in  which  he  demonstrated 
his  power  over  dogs.  He  was  evidently  intelligently  con¬ 
scious  of  his  power,  but  did  not  know  the  conditions  neces¬ 
sary  to  enable  him  to  exercise  it  with  uniform  potency. 

The  most  striking  manifestations  of  the  force  under  con¬ 
sideration  are  by  professional  tamers  of  wild  beasts.  The 
reason  of  this  lies  in  the  simple  fact  that  they  uniformly  em¬ 
ploy  the  means  necessary  to  its  development,  —  namely,  fix¬ 
ing  their  eyes  upon  those  of  the  beast.  This  is  the  traditional 
method.  Its  potency  has  been  recognized  for  ages,  although 
the  philosophical  principles  underlying  it  have  never  been 
understood. 

The  conditions  necessary  for  the  exercise  of  this  power 
are  :  first,  the  subjective,  or  partially  subjective,  condition 
of  the  operator ;  and  secondly,  his  perfect  faith  and  confi¬ 
dence  in  his  power.  The  first  is  easily  attained  by  the 
simple  process  developed  by  Braid.  The  second  comes 
from  successful  practice,  but  may  be  commanded  by  the 
power  of  auto-suggestion,  as  I  have  already  shown. 

History  is  full  of  instances  going  to  show  that  man,  in 
the  subjective  condition,  is  always  safe  from  harm  by  wild 


Il8  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHEHOMEHA. 

animals.  The  subjective  powers  of  primitive  man  were  un¬ 
doubtedly  far  superior  to  any  now  possessed  by  any  one 
save,  perhaps,  the  East  Indian  adepts.  Before  the  develop¬ 
ment  of  objective  means  of  communication  in  the  form  of 
speech,  his  ideas  were  conveyed  to  his  fellows  by  telepathy. 
And  just  in  proportion  to  the  development  of  objective 
means  of  communication  did  he  cease  to  employ,  and  finally 
lose,  his  primitive  methods  and  powers.  God  gave  him 
dominion  over  the  beasts  of  the  field  and  the  fowls  of  the 
air.  In  his  primitive  condition  he  was  destitute  of  effective 
weapons  of  offence  or  defence,  such  as  have  been  evolved 
during  the  long  ages  of  a  later  civilization.  He  was  sur¬ 
rounded  by  a  monstrous  fauna,  capable  of  annihilating  the 
present  race  of  civilized  mankind,  could  it  be  suddenly  re¬ 
surrected  and  turned  loose  in  its  old  numbers  and  haunts. 
In  what  consisted  the  power  of  primitive  man  to  assert  and 
maintain  his  God-given  dominion  over  the'  monsters  of  his 
day  and  generation?  It  must  have  been  the  same  power 
which  is  now  exceptionally  exercised  by  the  artificial  dis¬ 
placement  of  the  threshold  of  consciousness,  thus  develop¬ 
ing  in  a  small  degree  his  long  dormant  subjective  powers. 
His  dominion  was  then  a  true  one,  all-potent,  and  far  more 
perfect  and  effective  than  it  is  to-day,  with  all  the  appli¬ 
ances  of  civilization  at  his  command. 

Facts  of  record  are  not  wanting  to  sustain  the  proposi¬ 
tion  that  man  in  a  subjective,  or  partially  subjective,  con¬ 
dition  is  safe  from  the  attacks  of  wild  beasts.  One  of  the 
first  recorded  instances,  and  the  one  most  familiar,  is 
the  story  of  Daniel.  Daniel  was  a  prophet,  —  a  seer.  At 
this  day  he  would  be  known  in  some  circles  as  a  spiritual 
medium  ;  in  others,  as  a  mind-reader,  a  clairvoyant,  etc., — 
according  to  the  conception  of  each  individual  as  to  the 
origin  of  his  powers.  In  other  words,  he  was  a  man  pos¬ 
sessed  of  great  subjective  powers.  He  was  naturally  and 
habitually  in  that  state  in  which,  in  modern  parlance,  the 
threshold  of  his  consciousness  was  displaced,  and  the  powers 
of  his  soul  were  developed.  In  this  state  he  was  thrown 
into  the  lions’  den,  with  the  result  recorded.  The  sceptic 


HYPNOTISM  AND  MESMERISM.  i  19 

as  to  the  divine  authenticity  of  the  Scriptures  can  readily 
accept  this  story  as  literally  true  when  he  recalls  the  experi¬ 
ments  made  in  Paris  a  few  years  ago.  In  that  city  a 
young  lady  was  hypnotized  and  placed  in  a  den  of  lions. 
The  object  of  the  experiment  is  not  now  recalled ;  but  the 
result  was  just  the  same  as  that  recorded  of  the  ancient 
prophet.  She  had  no  fear  of  the  lions,  and  the  lions  paid 
not  the  slightest  attention  to  her. 

The  adepts  of  India,  and  even  the  inferior  priests  of  the 
Buddhistic  faith,  often  display  their  power  by  entering  the 
jungles,  so  infested  by  man-eating  tigers  that  an  ordinary 
man  would  not  live  an  hour,  and  remain  there  all  night, 
with  no  weapons  of  defence  save  the  God-given  powers  of 
the  soul. 

The  power  of  idiots,  and  persons  afflicted  with  certain 
forms  of  insanity,  to  tame  and  subdue  animals  has  often 
been  remarked.  In  such  persons  the  objective  mind  is 
either  wholly  or  partially  in  abeyance,  and  the  subjective 
mind  is  proportionally  active.  Their  immunity  from  harm 
by  animals,  however  ferocious,  is  proverbial. 

Volumes  might  be  filled  with  facts  showing  the  power 
of  the  subjective  mind  of  man  over  animals ;  but  enough 
has  been  said  to  demonstrate  the  fact  that  the  power  exists, 
and  that  under  certain  well-defined  conditions  it  can  be 
exercised  by  any  person  of  ordinary  intelligence. 

It  is  believed  that  enough  has  been  said  to  show  the 
source  of  the  power  developed  by  mesmeric  processes,  as 
distinguished  from  the  results  of  hypnotism.  It  has  been 
seen  that  the  primary  source  of  power  is  in  the  mesmerist, 
that  it  is  developed  by  processes  which  place  him  in  the 
same  condition  as,  or  in  a  condition  cognate  to,  that  in 
which  the  subject  himself  is  placed,  and  that  when  these 
conditions  exist,  and  just  in  proportion  to  the  perfection 
of  these  conditions,  can  the  phenomena  of  telepathy, 
clairvoyance,  and  all  the  higher  phenomena  of  subjective 
activity  be  produced. 

The  difference  between  the  effects  of  mesmerism  on 
man  and  animals  is  one  of  degree  only ;  and  the  differ- 


120 


THE  LAW  OF  rSYCHIC  THENOMENA. 


ence  of  degree  is  determined  only  by  their  difference  in 
intelligence.  The  laws  are  the  same.  When  a  man  is 
mesmerized,  his  subjective  mind  may  be  stimulated  to  activ¬ 
ity,  whether  his  objective  mind  is  completely  in  abeyance 
or  not.  If  it  is  completely  in  abeyance,  the  subjective 
phenomena  will  be  all  the  more  pronounced  and  complete. 
But  when  an  animal  is  put  to  sleep,  little  or  no  subjective 
phenomena  can  be  exhibited,  for  the  simple  reason  that 
he  has  not  the  power  of  speech,  and  his  intelligence  is 
otherwise  limited.  The  same  law  also  governs  the  produc¬ 
tion  of  hypnotic  phenomena  in  men  and  animals  alike.  An 
animal  can  be  put  to  sleep  by  hypnotic  processes ;  but  he 
cannot  be  made  to  exhibit  subjective  phenomena  during 
that  sleep,  owing  solely  to  the  limitations  of  his  intelligence. 
He  is  not  capable  of  receiving  and  understanding  a  sugges¬ 
tion.  Besides,  in  hypnotism,  as  has  been  shown,  there  is 
no  telepathic  rapport  existing  between  the  operator  and  the 
subject.  Consequently  the  phenomena  which  may  be  ex¬ 
hibited  through  or  by  means  of  mesmeric  processes,  which 
grow  out  of  telepathic  rapport,  cannot  be  exhibited  in 
hypnotism. 

It  may  be  thought  that  the  laws  governing  the  production 
of  mesmeric  phenomena  show  that  the  law  of  suggestion  is, 
after  all,  limited  in  its  scope  and  application.  This  is  not 
true,  except  in  the  sense  that  suggestion,  as  has  already 
been  shown,  is  not  a  necessary  element  in  the  induction  of 
the  hypnotic  state.  The  proposition  that  the  subjective 
mind  is  constantly  amenable  to  control  by  suggestion  is  not 
affected  in  the  slightest  degree  by  mesmeric  phenomena. 
On  the  contrary,  they  distinctly  prove  the  universality  of 
that  law.  Suggestion  is  not  necessarily  limited  to  oral 
communication.  Nor  is  it  necessarily  a  communication 
which  can  be  taken  cognizance  of  by  means  of  any  of  the 
objective  senses.  Telepathic  communication  is  just  as 
much  a  suggestion  to  the  subjective  mind  as  is  oral  speech. 
Indeed,  telepathic  suggestion  is  often  far  more  effective 
than  objective  language,  as  will  be  clearly  shown  in  a 
future  chapter  on  the  subject  of  psycho-therapeutics. 


HYPNOTISM  AND  MESMERISM. 


I2I 


Hence  the  power  to  mesmerize  at  a  distance.  In  such 
cases,  however,  it  seems  to  be  necessary  that  the  operator 
and  subject  should  be  by  some  means  brought  into  tele¬ 
pathic  rapport.  When  that  has  been  done,  especially 
when  the  rapport  has  been  established  by  the  subject 
having  been  previously  mesmerized  by  the  same  operator, 
it  is  perfectly  easy  to  mesmerize  at  a  distance.  In  such  a 
case  no  previous  arrangement  is  necessary.  The  suggestion 
is  then  purely  mental.  But  it  is  suggestion,  nevertheless, 
and  demonstrates  the  universality  of  the  law.  Numerous 
instances  of  the  exercise  of  this  power  by  purely  telepathic 
methods  are  cited  in  the  able  work  on  Hypnotism  by 
Professor  Bjornstrom,  to  which  the  reader  is  referred  for 
particulars. 

One  further  remark  should  be  made  regarding  the  power 
to  mesmerize  at  a  distance,  and  that  is,  that  it  depends 
solely  upon  the  faith  and  confidence  of  the  operator. 
Distance,  or  space,  as  it  is  cognized  by  our  objective  senses, 
does  not  appear  to  exist  for  the  subjective  mind.  There  is, 
therefore,  nothing  in  distance,  per  sc,  to  prevent  the  full 
effects  of  mesmeric  power  from  being  felt  at  the  antipodes 
just  as  plainly  and  effectively  as  it  is  in  the  same  room.  We 
are,  however,  so  in  the  habit  of  regarding  distance  as  an 
adverse  element  that  it  is  difficult  to  overcome  the  adverse 
suggestion  that  it  conveys.  When  this  principle  is  once 
understood  and  fully  realized,  there  will  be  nothing  to  pre¬ 
vent  an  operator  from  exercising  his  power  at  any  dis¬ 
tance  he  may  desire. 


CHAPTER  X. 


HYPNOTISM  AND  CRIME. 


Platform  Experiments  misleading.  —  Their  Utter  Inutility  as  a  Test. 

—  So-called  “  Tests  ”  described  and  explained.  —  Sexual  Outrages 
impossible.  —  Auto-suggestion  protects  the  Virtuous.  —  A  Willing 
Subject  necessary. — Demonstrative  Experiments.  —  Modern  Au¬ 
thorities  cited  against  themselves.  —  Professor  Gregory’s  Views. 

—  The  Elevated  Moral  Tone  of  Subjects  when  mesmerized. — 
Successful  Suggestion  of  Suicide  impossible.  —  The  Three  Normal 
Functions  of  the  Subjective  Mind.  —  Self-Preservation.  —  Propa¬ 
gation.  —  Preservation  of  Offspring.  —  Instinctive  Auto-sugges¬ 
tion. —  Indifference  on  Near  Approach  of  Death.  —  A  Universal 
Law. —  Illustrative  Incidents.  —  Suggestive  Criminal  Abortion  im¬ 
possible. —  Premonitions  explained.  —  The  Daemon  of  Socrates. — 
Clairaudience.  —  The  Instinct  of  Death. —  Hypnotism  in  Juris¬ 
prudence. —  Testimony  Valueless.  —  Vital  Secrets  impossible  to 
obtain.  —  Doctors  must  not  monopolize  the  Forces  of  Nature. — 
The  Folly  of  Adverse  Legislation. 


EFORE  leaving  the  subject  of  hypnotism,  I  deem  it 


proper  to  say  a  few  words  on  one  of  its  branches 
which  is  just  now  attracting  the  attention  alike  of  students 
of  the  science  and  the  public  at  large.  The  idea  is  being 
very  generally  promulgated  among  the  people  that  the  abil¬ 
ity  of  one  man  to  mesmerize  or  hypnotize  another  implies 
the  possession  of  a  very  dangerous  power,  and  one  which, 
in  the  hands  of  an  unscrupulous  man,  may  be  used  for 
criminal  purposes.  It  is  perhaps  not  strange  that  such  an 
idea  should  prevail  among  those  who  have  not  studied  the 
science  except  by  observation  of  platform  experiments, 
which  are  designed  rather  to  amuse  than  to  instruct. 
There  is  something  so  mysterious  in  the  whole  subject. 


HYPNOTISM  AND  CRIME. 


123 


viewed  from  the  standpoint  of  an  audience  assembled  to 
witness  experiments  of  this  character,  that  it  would  be 
strange  indeed  if  the  average  man  were  not  impressed 
with  an  indefinable  dread  of  the  power  of  the  hypnotist. 
He  sees  him,  by  means  of  certain  mysterious  manipula¬ 
tions,  tlrrow  his  subject  into  a  profound  sleep,  and  awaken 
him  by  a  snap  of  the  fingers.  He  sees  the  subject  im¬ 
pressed  with  all  manner  of  incongruous  ideas,  —  made  to 
believe  that  he  is  Diogenes,  or  a  dog,  at  the  will  of  the 
operator.  He  is  made  to  ride  an  imaginary  horse-race, 
astride  a  deal  table,  or  to  go  in  swimming  on  the  bare 
floor.  He  is  made  to  see  angels  or  devils ;  to  wander  in 
the  Elysian  fields  of  paradise,  or  to  scorch  in  the  sulphu¬ 
rous  fires  of  hell ;  to  feel  pain  or  pleasure,  joy  or  sorrow,  — 
all  at  the  caprice  of  the  man  in  whose  power  he  has  placed 
himself.  All  this,  and  much  more,  can  be  seen  at  public 
exhibitions  of  hypnotism,  and  under  conditions  that  leave 
no  doubt  in  the  mind  of  the  observer,  of  the  genuineness 
ot  the  phenomena.  He  sees  his  friends,  for  whose  integ¬ 
rity  he  can  vouch,  go  upon  the  platform  and  become  sub¬ 
ject  to  the  same  mysterious  power.  Still  doubting,  he  may 
go  upon  the  stage  himself,  only  to  find  that  he  is  amenable 
to  the  same  subtle  influence,  controllable  by  some  power 
that  is  to  him  agreeable,  yet  mysterious,  indefinable,  incom¬ 
prehensible.  At  first  he  perfectly  comprehends  all  his  ob¬ 
jective  surroundings,  remembers  afterwards  all  that  took 
place,  and  very  likely  fancies  that  he  obeyed  the  sugges¬ 
tions  of  the  hypnotist  merely  to  please  him  and  to  avoid 
doing  anything  to  mar  the  harmony  of  the  occasion.  Later 
on  he  learns  that  his  supposed  complacency  was  really  an 
irresistible  impulse  to  obey  the  will  of  the  hypnotist.  As 
the  experiments  proceed  he  experiences  the  sensation  of 
double  consciousness.  He  is  told  that  in  his  hand  he 
holds  a  delicious  fruit,  —  a  strawberry,  perhaps.  He  is  still 
possessed  of  sufficient  objective  consciousness  to  know  that 
there  is  really  no  strawberry  in  his  hand,  and  yet  he  sees  it 
plainly,  feels  it,  smells  it,  tastes  it,  and  experiences  all  the 
satisfaction  incident  to  having  actually  eaten  the  fruit.  He 


124  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


is  able  to  converse  rationally  on  the  subject,  and  to  express 
his  amazement  at  the  vividness  and  apparent  reality  of  the 
subjective  sensation.  After  a  few  repetitions  of  the  experi¬ 
ments  he  loses  all  consciousness  of  his  objective  environ¬ 
ment,  yields  unquestioning  obedience  to  the  suggestions  of 
the  hypnotist,  and  retains  no  recollection,  after  he  is  awak¬ 
ened,  of  what  occurred  when  he  was  in  the  somnambulic 
condition.  His  friends  inform  him  of  the  many  wonderful 
things  which  occurred,  of  his  ready  obedience  to  all  sugges¬ 
tions,  —  how  he  made  a  speech  far  transcending  his  natu¬ 
ral  abilities,  under  the  influence  of  a  suggestion  that  he  was 
Daniel  Webster ;  how  he  flapped  his  wings  and  crowed 
when  told  that  he  was  a  cock ;  and  so  on  through  the 
repertoire  of  platform  experiments.  He  is  now  strongly 
impressed  with  the  idea  that  he  was  controlled  by  a  power 
that  he  could  under  no  circumstances  resist.  But,  wishing 
to  pursue  his  investigations  further,  he  resolves  to  test  the 
question  whether  this  power  can  be  employed  for  criminal 
purposes.  A  few  friends  are  called  together,  a  hypnotist  is 
employed,  and  a  few  well-trained  subjects  are  invited  to 
give  a  private  exhibition  for  the  benefit  of  “science.”  In 
order  to  give  the  proposed  psychological  experiment  an 
undoubted  scientific  value,  a  few  doctors  of  physic  are  in¬ 
vited  to  be  present,  —  not  because  they  know  anything 
about  psychology  or  of  hypnotism,  but  because  it  is  well 
known  that  they  have  heard  something  about  the  latter 
science,  particularly  that  it  has  been  found  to  be  a  great 
therapeutic  agent,  and  they  are  just  now  deeply  interested 
in  proving  that  hypnotism,  in  the  hands  of  any  one  outside 
of  the  medical  profession,  must  necessarily  be  employed 
for  the  perpetration  of  crime. 

We  will  now  suppose  that  the  guests  are  assembled  and 
the  experiments  are  about  to  be  made.  The  question  is 
freely  discussed  in  the  presence  of  the  subjects,  each  one 
of  whom  is  duly  impressed  with  the  idea  that  he  is  about 
to  become  the  instrument  of  science  for  the  elucidation  and 
definite  settlement  of  the  great  problem  of  the  age.  The 
subject  is  now  duly  hypnotized,  and  the  inevitable  paper 


HYPNOTISM  AND  CRIME. 


125 


dagger  is  placed  in  his  hands.  An  imaginary  man  in  a 
distant  part  of  the  room  is  pointed  out,  and  the  subject  is 
informed  that  the  said  man  is  his  mortal  enemy  j  and  he  is 
duly  advised  that  the  best  thing  he  can  do  under  the  cir¬ 
cumstances  is  to  proceed  to  slaughter  the  enemy  aforesaid. 
This  he  has  no  hesitation  in  doing,  and  he  proceeds  to  do 
it  with  great  dramatic  effect.  He  sneaks  up  to  his  victim 
in  the  style  of  the  last  heavy  villain  he  has  seen  on  the 
stage,  and  plunges  the  imaginary  dagger  into  the  hypothet¬ 
ical  man,  amidst  the  applause  of  the  assembled  village 
wisdom. 

The  next  subject  is  duly  hypnotized,  and  informed  that 
he  is  a  noted  pickpocket.  The  guests  are  pointed  out  as 
a  good  crowd  to  work  for  “  wipers,”  or  whatever  is  thieves’ 
slang  for  pocket-handkerchiefs.  The  subject  accepts  the 
suggestion  at  once,  and,  with  much  show  of  cunning,  pro¬ 
ceeds  to  relieve  the  guests  of  whatever  is  within  his  reach. 

The  next  subject  is  advised  that  he  is  an  accomplished 
burglar,  and  that  a  neighboring  house  is  overflowing  with 
plutider.  He  enters  into  the  spirit  of  the  suggestion  with 
great  alacrity,  and  a  committee  is  duly  appointed  to  accom¬ 
pany  him  to  the  scene  of  pillage.  The  neighbor  is,  mean¬ 
time,  apprised  of  the  proposed  burglary,  and  every  facility 
is  afforded,  in  the  interest  of  “  science.”  (The  reader  will 
remember  that  actual  occurrences  are  being  described.) 
The  burglary  is  completed  with  great  skill  and  promptitude, 
and  a  miscellaneous  collection  of  valuables  is  brought  away 
and  equitably  divided  with  the  hypnotist. 

The  above  are  fair  samples  of  the  “  scientific  ”  experi¬ 
ments  which  are  just  now  being  largely  indulged  in,  and 
which  are  believed  to  demonstrate  the  possibility  of  em¬ 
ploying  hypnotism  as  an  instrument  of  crime.  “  If  the 
average  subject,”  it  is  argued,  “  in  a  state  of  profound  hyp¬ 
notic  sleep,  is  so  amenable  to  the  power  of  suggestion  as  to 
plunge  a  paper  dagger  into  an  imaginary  enemy  at  the  bid¬ 
ding  of  a  hypnotist,  it  follows  that  a  criminal  hypnotist 
possesses  unlimited  power  to  cause  any  one  of  his  subjects 
to  plunge  a  real  dagger  into  any  victim  whom  the  hyp- 


126  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


notist  may  select  for  slaughter.”  If  the  conclusions  were 
correct,  the  power  would  be  indeed  formidable,  and,  m 
the  hands  of  unscrupulous  men,  dangerous.  Much  has 
been  written  on  the  subject  of  the  possibility  of  sexual  out¬ 
rage  by  means  of  hypnotism,  and  a  few  cases  are  reported 
in  the  books.  None  of  them,  however,  bear  the  unmistak¬ 
able  stamp  of  genuineness,  and  most  of  them  bear  internal 
evidence  of  fraud.  The  best  authorities  on  the  subject  are 
now  free  to  confess  to  very  grave  doubts,  at  least,  of  the 
possibility  of  crime  being  instigated  by  this  means.  Thus, 
Moll,^  one  of  the  latest  and  certainly  one  of  the  ablest 
writers  on  the  subject,  has  the  following :  — 

“  There  are  important  differences  of  opinion  about  the  of¬ 
fences  which  hypnotic  subjects  may  be  caused  to  commit. 
Lidgeois,  who  has  discussed  the  legal  side  of  the  question  of 
hypnotism  in  a  scientific  manner,  thinks  this  danger  very  great, 
while  Gilles  de  la  Tourette,  Pierre  Janet,  Benedikt,  and  others, 
deny  it  altogether. 

“  There  is  no  doubt  that  subjects  may  be  induced  to  commit 
all  sorts  of  imaginary  crimes  in  one’s  study.  I  have  made 
hardly  any  such  suggestions,  and  have  small  experience  on  the 
point.  In  any  case,  a  repetition  of  them  is  superfluous.  If  the 
conditions  of  the  experiment  are  not  changed,  it  is  useless  to 
repeat  it  merely  to  confirm  what  we  already  know.  And  these 
criminal  suggestions  are  not  altogether  pleasant.  I  certainly 
do  not  believe  that  they  injure  the  moral  state  of  the  subject, 
for  the  suggestion  may  be  negatived  and  forgotten.  But  these 
laboratory  experiments  prove  nothing,  because  some  trace  of 
consciousness  always  remains  to  tell  the  subject  he  is  playing  a 
comedy  (Franck  Delboeuf),  consequently  he  will  offer  a  slighter 
resistance.  He  will  more  readily  try  to  commit  a  murder  with 
a  piece  of  paper  than  with  a  real  dagger,  because,  as  we  have 
seen,  he  almost  always  dimly  realizes  his  real  situation.  These 
experiments,  carried  out  by  Lidgeois,  Foreaux,  and  others  in 
their  studies  do  not,  therefore,  prove  danger.” 

Such  experiments  prove  nothing,  simply  because  they 
are  experiments.  The  subject  knows  that  he  is  among  his 
friends.  He  has  confidence  in  the  integrity  of  the  hypno- 


Hypnotism,  p.  337. 


HYPNOTISM  AND  CRIME. 


127 


tist.  He  is  most  likely  aware  of  the  nature  of  the  proposed 
experiments.  He  enters  into  the  spirit  of  the  occasion, 
resolved  to  accept  every  suggestion  offered,  and  to  carry 
out  his  part  of  the  programme  in  the  best  style,  know¬ 
ing  that  no  possible  harm  can  befall  him.  Moreover,  he 
knows  that  if  he  performs  his  part  to  the  satisfaction  of  his 
auditors,  he  will  receive  their  applause ;  and  applause  to 
the  subjective  mind  is  as  sweet  incense.  For,  be  it 
known,  the  average  hypnotic  subject  is  inordinately  vain 
of  his  accomplishments. 

All  those  considerations  are,  however,  merely  negative 
evidence  against  the  supposition  that  the  innocent  hyp¬ 
notic  subject  can  be  made  the  instrument  of  crime,  or  the 
victim  of  criminal  assault  against  his  will.  These  experi¬ 
ments  prove  nothing,  that  is  all.  Nor  do  they  disprove 
anything.  We  must,  therefore,  look  elsewhere  for  positive 
evidence  to  demonstrate  the  impossibility  of  making  the 
innocent  subject  the  instrument  or  the  victim  of  crime. 
This  evidence  is  not  difficult  to  find. 

It  will  be  unnecessary  to  travel  outside  the  domain  of 
admitted,  recorded,  and  demonstrated  facts  in  order  to 
prove  the  utter  impossibility  of  victimizing  virtue  and  inno¬ 
cence  by  means  of  hypnotism.  Indeed,  it  is  difficult  to 
understand  how  any  one  who  recognizes  the  law  of  sug¬ 
gestion,  and  its  universal  application  to  psychological  phe¬ 
nomena,  can  believe  for  one  moment  that  hypnotism  can 
be  made  the  instrument  of  crime.  Yet  we  find  disciples 
of  the  Nancy  school  who  seem  to  imagine  that  to  hold 
that  it  cannot  be  so  employed  is  equivalent  to  an  admission 
that  the  law  of  suggestion  is  not  of  universal  application. 
The  fact  is  that  just  the  contrary  is  true.  It  is  one  of  the 
strongest  demonstrations  of  the  universality  of  the  law  that 
hypnotism  cannot  be  so  employed. 

The  first  proposition  in  the  line  of  the  argument  is  that 
when  two  contrary  suggestions  are  offered  to  the  hypnotic 
subject,  the  strongest  must  prevail.  It  needs  no  argument 
to  sustain  this  proposition ;  it  is  self-evident. 

The  next  proposition,  almost  equally  plain,  is  that  auto- 


128  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


suggestion  as  a  factor  in  hypnotism  is  equal  in  potency, 
other  things  being  equal,  with  the  suggestion  of  another. 

Auto-suggestion  is  now  recognized  as  a  factor  in  hypno¬ 
tism  by  all  followers  of  the  Nancy  school.  Professor  Bern- 
heim  mentions  it  as  an  obstacle  in  the  way  of  the  cure  of 
some  of  his  patients.  One  case  that  he  mentions  was  that 
of  a  young  girl  suffering  from  a  tibio-tarsal  sprain.  “  I 
tried  to  hypnotize  her,”  says  Bernheim  ;  “she  gave  herself 
up  to  it  with  bad  grace,  saying  that  it  would  do  no  good. 
I  succeeded,  however,  in  putting  her  into  a  deep  enough 
sleep  two  or  three  times.  But  the  painful  contracture  per¬ 
sisted  :  she  seemed  to  take  a  malicious  delight  in  proving 
to  the  other  patients  in  the  service  that  it  did  no  good, 
that  she  always  felt  worse.  .  .  .  The  inrooted  idea,  the 
tmconscious  auto-suggestion,  is  such  that  nothing  can  pull 
it  up  again.  When  the  treatment  was  begun,  she  seemed 
to  be  convinced  that  hypnotism  could  not  cure  her.  Is  it 
this  idea,  so  deeply  rooted  in  her  brain,  which  neutralizes 
our  efforts  and  her  own  wish  to  be  cured? 

Moll,  more  distinctly  than  Bernheim,  recognizes  the  power 
of  auto-suggestion  as  a  potent  factor  which  must  always  be 
taken  into  account  in  conducting  experiments ;  although 
he,  like  Bernheim,  strangely  forgets  to  take  it  into  account 
when  he  discusses  hypnotism  in  its  relations  to  crime.  The 
following  passage,  for  instance,  should  have  been  incorpo¬ 
rated  in  his  chapter  on  the  Legal  Aspects  of  Hypnotism : 

“  Expressions  of  the  will  which  spring  from  the  individual 
character  of  the  patient  are  of  the  deepest  psychological  interest. 
The  more  an  action  is  repulsive  to  his  disposition,  the  stronger 
is  his  resistance  (Forel).  Habit  and  education  play  a  large  part 
here;  it  is  generally  very  diffcult  successfully  to  suggest  any¬ 
thing  that  is  opposed  to  the  confirmed  habits  of  the  subject. 
For  instance,  suggestions  are  made  with  success  to  a  devout 
Catholic ;  but  directly  the  suggestion  conflicts  with  his  creed,  it 
will  not  be  accepted.  The  surroundings  play  a  part  also.  A, 
subject  will  frequently  decline  a  suggestion  that  will  make  him 
appear  ridiculous.  A  woman  whom  I  easily  put  into  cataleptic 


1  Suggestive  Therapeutics,  p.  214. 


HYPNOTISM  AND  CRIME. 


129 


postures,  and  who  made  suggested  movements,  could  not  be  in 
duced  to  put  out  her  tongue  at  the  spectators.  In  another  such 
case  I  succeeded,  but  only  after  repeated  suggestions.  The 
manner  of  making  the  suggestion  has  an  influence.  In  some 
cases  it  must  be  often  repeated  before  it  succeeds ;  other  sub¬ 
jects  interpret  the  repetition  of  the  suggestion  as  a  sign  of  the 
experimenter’s  incapacity,  and  of  their  own  ability  to  resist. 
Thus  it  is  necessary  to  take  character  into  account.  It  is  often 
easier  to  induce  some  action  by  suggesting  each  separate  move¬ 
ment  than  by  suggesting  the  whole  action  at  once  (llleuler). 
For  example,  if  the  subject  is  to  fetch  a  book  from  the  table, 
the  movements  may  be  suggested  in  turn ;  first  the  lifting,  then 
the  steps,  etc.  (Bleuler.) 

“It  is  interesting  to  observe  the  way  in  which  resistance  is 
expressed,  both  in  hypnotic  and  post-hypnotic  suggestion.  I 
myself  have  observed  th.e  interesting  phenomenon  that  subjects 
have  asked  to  be  awakened  when  a  suggestion  displeased  them. 

“  Exactly  the  same  resistance  is  sometimes  offered  to  a  post¬ 
hypnotic  suggestion.  It  is  possible  in  such  a  case  that  the 
subject,  even  in  the  hypnotic  state,  will  decline  to  accept  the 
suggestion.  Many  carry  out  only  the  suggestions  to  which 
they  have  assented  (Pierre  Janet). 

“  Pitres  relates  an  interesting  case  of  a  girl  who  would  not 
allow  him  to  awake  her,  because  he  had  suggested  that  on  wak¬ 
ing  she  would  not  be  able  to  speak.  She  positively  declared 
that  she  would  not  wake  until  he  gave  up  his  suggestion.  But 
even  when  the  suggestion  is  accepted  as  such,  a  decided  resist¬ 
ance  is  often  expressed  during  its  post-hypnotic  execution.  This 
shows  itself  as  often  in  .slow  and  lingering  movements  as  in  a 
decided  refusal  to  perform  the  act  at  all.  The  more  repugnant 
the  acting,  the  more  likely  is  it  to  be  omitted.”  ^ 

Thousands  of  experiments  are  daily  being  made  which 
demonstrate  the  impossibility  of  controlling  the  hypnotic 
subject  so  far  as  to  cause  him  to  do  that  which  he  believes 
or  knows  to  be  wrong.  A  common  platform  experiment  is 
that  of  causing  subjects  to  get  drunk  on  water,  under  the 
suggestion  that  it  is  whiskey.  It  frequently  happens  that 
one  or  more  of  the  subjects  are  conscientiously  opposed  to 
the  use  of  strong  drink  as  a  beverage.  Such  jiersons  inva¬ 
riably  decline,  in  the  most  emphatic  manner,  to  indulge  in 


'  Hypnotism,  p.  171. 


130  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


the  proposed  debnuch.  Like  all  such  experiments  on  the 
stage  before  a  mixed  audience,  they  are  passed  by  as  simply 
amusing,  and  no  lesson  is  learned  from  them.  The  intelli¬ 
gent  student,  however,  cannot  fail  to  see  the  far-reaching 
significance  of  the  refusal  of  a  subject  to  violate  his  tem¬ 
perance  principles.  Again,  every  platform  experimenter 
knows  that  whilst  he  can  cause  a  crowd  of  his  subjects  to 
go  in  swimming  in  imaginary  waters,  he  can  never  induce 
them  to  divest  themselves  of  their  clothing  beyond  the  lim¬ 
its  of  decency.  Some  cannot  even  be  made  to  take  off  their 
coats  in  presence  of  the  audience.  Others  will  decline  to 
accept  any  suggestion,  the  pursuance  of  which  would  cause 
them  to  appear  ridiculous. 

Again,  it  is  well  known  to  hypnotists  that  an  attempt  to 
contradict  or  argue  with  a  subject  in  the  hypnotic  state  in¬ 
variably  distresses  him,  and  persistency  in  such  a  course 
awakens  him,  often  with  a  nervous  shock.  A  conflict  of 
suggestions  invariably  causes  confusion  in  the  -subjective 
mind,  and  generally  results  in  restoring  the  subject  to 
normal  consciousness. 

Now,  what  is  an  auto-suggestion?  In  its  broad  significa¬ 
tion  it  embraces  not  only  the  assertions  of  the  objective 
mind  of  an  individual,  addressed  to  his  own  subjective  mind, 
but  also  the  habits  of  thought  of  the  individual,  and  the  set¬ 
tled  principles  and  convictions  of  his  whole  life  ;  and  the 
more  deeply  rooted  are  those  habits  of  thought,  principles, 
and  convictions,  the  stronger  and  more  potent  are  the  auto¬ 
suggestions,  and  the  more  difficult  they  are  to  overcome  by 
the  contrary  suggestions  of  another.  It  is,  in  fact,  impossible 
for  a  hypnotist  to  impress  a  suggestion  so  strongly  upon  a 
subject  as  to  cause  him  actually  to  perform  an  act  in  viola¬ 
tion  of  the  settled  principles  of  his  life.  If  this  were  not 
true,  suggestion  would  mean  nothing ;  it  would  have  no 
place  in  psychological  science,  because  it  would  not  be  a 
law  of  universal  application.  The  strongest  suggestion  must 
prevail. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  question  as  to  whether  hyp¬ 
notism  can  be  successfully  employed  for  criminal  purposes. 


nVPNOTlSM  AND  CRIME.  13  i 

must  be  determined  in  each  individual  case  by  the  charac¬ 
ter  of  the  persons  engaged  in  the  experiment.  If  the  sub¬ 
ject  is  a  criminal  character,  he  might  follow  the  suggestions 
of  a  criminal  hypnotist,  and  actually  perpetrate  a  crime. 
In  such  a  case,  a  resort  to  hypnotism  for  criminal  purposes 
would  be  unnecessary,  and  no  possible  advantage  could  be 
gained  by  its  employment. 

It  is  obvious  that  the  same  rule  applies  to  sexual  crimes ; 
and  it  may  be  set  down  as  a  maxim  in  hypnotic  science  that 
no  virtuous  woman  ever  was,  or  ever  can  be,  successfully 
assaulted  while  in  a  hypnotic  condition.  This  is  a  corollary 
of  the  demonstrated  propositions  which  precede  it ;  and  it 
admits  of  no  exception  or  qualification. 

A  virtuous  woman  is,  indeed,  in  less  danger  of  successful 
assault  while  in  that  state  than  she  is  in  her  normal  condi¬ 
tion,  for  the  simple  reason  that  hypnotic  subjects  are  always 
endowed  with  a  physical  strength  far  superior  to  that  pos¬ 
sessed  in  the  normal  condition.  Besides,  it  is  the  observa¬ 
tion  of  every  successful  hypnotist  that  the  moral  tone  of  the 
hypnotic  subject,  while  in  that  condition,  is  always  elevated. 
On  this  subject  we  will  let  the  late  Professor  Gregory 
speak :  — 

“  When  the  sleeper  has  become  fully  asleep,  so  as  to  answer 
questions  readily  without  waking,  there  is  almost  always  ob¬ 
served  a  remarkable  change  in  the  countenance,  the  manner, 
and  the  voice.  On  falling  asleep  at  first,  he  looks,  perhaps, 
drowsy  and  heavy,  like  a  person  dozing  in  church,  or  at  table 
when  overcome  by  fatigue,  or  stupefied  by  excess  in  wine,  or  by 
the  foul  air  of  a  crowded  apartment ;  but  when  spoken  to,  he 
usually  brightens  up,  and  although  the  eyes  be  closed,  yet  the 
expression  becomes  highly  intelligent,  quite  as  much  so  as  if  he 
saw.  His  whole  manner  seems  to  undergo  a  refinement  which, 
in  the  higher  stages,  reaches  a  most  striking  point,  insomuch 
that  we  see,  as  it  were,  before  us  a  person  of  a  much  more  ele¬ 
vated  character  than  the  same  sleeper  seems  to  be  when  awake. 
It  would  seem  as  if  the  lower,  or  animal,  propensities  were  laid  to 
rest,  while  the  intellect  and  higher  sentiments  shone  forth  with 
a  lustre  that  is  undiminished  by  aught  that  is  mean  or  common. 
This  is  particularly  seen  in  women  of  natural  refinement  and 
high  sentiments ;  but  it  is  also  seen  in  men  of  the  same  stamp, 


132 


THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


and  more  or  less  in  all.  In  the  highest  stages  of  the  mesmeric 
sleep  the  countenance  often  acquires  the  most  lovely  expres¬ 
sion,  surpassing  all  that  the  great  artists  have  given  to  the  Virgin 
Mary  or  to  angels,  and  which  may  fitly  be  called  heavenly,  for 
it  involuntarily  suggests  to  our  minds  the  moral  and  intellectual 
beauty  which  alone  seems  consistent  with  our  views  of  heaven. 
As  to  the  voice,  I  have  never  seen  one  person  in  the  true  mes¬ 
meric  sleep  who  did  not  speak  in  a  tone  quite  distinct  from  the 
ordinary  voice  of  the  sleeper.  It  is  invariably,  so  far  as  I  have 
observed,  softer  and  more  gentle,  well  corresponding  to  the  ele¬ 
vated  and  mild  expression  of  the  face.  It  has  often  a  plaintive 
and  touching  character,  Especially  when  the  sleeper  speaks  of 
departed  friends  or  relations.  In  the  highest  stages  it  has  a 
character  quite  new,  and  in  perfect  accordance  with  the  pure  and 
lovely  smile  of  the  countenance,  which  beams  on  the  observer,  in 
spite  of  the  closed  eyes,  like  a  ray  of  heaven’s  own  light  and 
beauty.  I  speak  here  of  that  which  I  have  often  seen,  and  I 
would  say  that,  as  a  general  rule,  the  sleeper,  when  in  his  ordi¬ 
nary  state  and  when  in  the  deep  mesmeric  sleep,  appears  not 
like  the  same,  but  like  two  different  individuals.  And  it  is  not 
wonderful  that  it  should  be  so.  For  the  sleeper,  in  tlie  mesmeric 
state,  has  a  consciousness  quite  separate  and  distinct  from  his 
ordinary  consciousness ;  he  is,  in  fact,  if  not  a  different  indi¬ 
vidual,  yet  the  same  individual  in  a  different  and  distinct  phase 
of  his  being,  and  that  phase  a  higher  one.”  ^ 

Professor  Gregory’s  experience  and  observation  have  been 
those  of  every  hypnotist  and  mesmerist  whose  works  have 
been  examined.  There  is,  indeed,  an  ineffable  and  inde¬ 
scribable  something  which  overspreads  the  countenance  of 
the  virtuous  woman  while  she  is  in  the  hypnotic  state,  which 
disarms  passion,  and  affects  the  beholder  with  a  feeling  that 
he  has  something  seen  of  heaven.  He  knows  that  the 
physical  senses  are  asleep,  and  he  feels  that  the  soul  is 
shining  forth  in  all  its  majesty  and  purity,  untainted  by  any 
thought  that  is  gross,  any  emotion  that  is  impure. 

One  of  the  assertions  most  confidently  made  by  those  who 
hold  that  crime  is  the  necessary  result  of  hypnotic  experi¬ 
ment,  outside  of  the  medical  profession,  is  that  a  hypnotic 
subject  can  be  made  to  commit  suicide  by  suggesting  to  him 


Gregory  on  Animal  Magnetism,  p.  4. 


HYPNOTISM  AND  CRIME. 


133 


the  propriety  of  so  doing.  There  is,  if  possible,  even  less 
foundation  for  this  supposition  than  there  is  for  any  other  in 
the  whole  catalogue.  The  reason  of  this  will  be  obvious 
when  we  take  into  consideration  some  of  the  distinctive 
attributes  of  the  subjective  mind.  It  will  not  be  disputed 
tliat  the  attribute  of  the  subjective  mind,  which  is  known  as 
intuition  when  applied  to  man,  corresponds  exactly  with 
what  we  call  instinct  when  applied  to  animals.  Now,  there 
are  three  primary  functions,  or,  let  us  say,  instincts,  of  the 
subjective  mind,  which  are  common  to  men  and  the  whole 
animal  creation.  The  first  pertains  to  the  preservation  of 
the  life  of  the  individual,  and  is  called,  in  common  parlance, 
the  instinct  of  self-preservation.  I'liis  is  admittedly  the 
strongest  instinct  of  animal  nature.  The  second,  in  the 
order  of  strength  and  of  universality,  is  the  instinct  of  re¬ 
production.  The  third  pertains  to  the  preservation  of  hu¬ 
man  life  generally,  and  of  one’s  offspring  particularly.  Each 
pertains  to  the  perpetuity  of  the  race.  The  first  and  second 
are  universal,  and  the  third  is  practically  so ;  the  only  ex¬ 
ceptions  being  in  rare  cases  of  individual  idiosyncrasy,  or 
in  a  very  low  order  of  animal  life.  The  potency  of  these 
instincts  is  too  well  known  to  require  comment. 

There  is  one  peculiarity,  however,  pertaining  to  subjective 
activity  when  the  life  of  the  individual  is  in  danger,  or  that 
of  offspring  is  imperilled,  that  is  not  so  generally  appreciated. 
In  such  cases  the  subjective  mind  takes  prompt  possession 
of  the  individual,  and  every  act  is  subjective  as  long  as 
active  exertion  is  required  to  preserve  the  imperilled  life. 
'I'hat  this  is  true  is  shown,  first,  by  the  preternatural  strength 
with  which  the  person  is  endowed  under  such  circumstances  ; 
second,  by  the  total  absence  of  fear ;  and  third,  by  the  won¬ 
derful  presence  of  mind  displayed  in  the  instantaneous  adap¬ 
tation  of  every  means  to  its  proper  end,  and  in  doing  exactly 
the  right  thing  at  the  right  time.  Comment  is  often  made 
on  the  wonderful  “  presence  of  mind  ”  displayed  by  persons 
in  great  peril  when  instantaneous  action  is  required,  and 
there  is  no  time  for  reflection  or^reasoning  out  a  plan  of 
action  or  defence.  This  presence  of  mind,  so  called,  is 


134  the  law  of  psychic  phenomena. 


nothing  more  or  less  than  subjective  activity,  or,  in  other 
words,  instinctive  action,  the  objective  faculties  being  in 
almost  complete  abeyance  for  the  time  being.  That  this  is 
true  is  further  shown  by  the  fact  that  a  person  in  imminent 
and  deadly  peril  will  often  emerge  from  the  very  jaws  of 
death  with  nerves  unshaken,  the  coolest  and  most  collected 
person  present.  This  is  often  mistaken  for  courage.  It 
has,  however,  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the  question  of 
personal  bravery.  The  veriest  coward  will,  under  circum¬ 
stances  of  unavoidable  danger,  act  with  the  same  coolness, 
and  evince  the  same  presence  of  mind,  as  the  bravest  man. 
The  most  timid  woman  will  fight  like  a  demon,  and  display 
preternatural  strength  and  courage,  for  the  preservation  of 
her  own  life  or  that  of  her  offspring.  The  action  is  in¬ 
stinctive.  In  other  words,  it  is  the  normal  function  of  the 
subjective  entity. 

The  condition  of  the  person  at  such  times  is  akin  to,  if 
net  identical  with,  the  state  of  hypnotism  or  partial  hyp¬ 
notism.  It  may  be  that  the  objective  and  subjective  facul¬ 
ties  act  at  such  times  in  perfect  synchronism  ;  but  certain 
it  is  that  every  evidence  of  subjective  activity  is  present, 
even  the  phenomenon  of  anesthesia.  This  is  shown  by  the 
fact  that  at  such  times  the  body  feels  no  pain,  no  matter 
how  severe  the  injury.  The  universal  testimony  of  soldiers 
who  have  been  in  battle  is  to  the  effect  that  the  time  when 
fear  is  experienced  is  just  before  the  action  commences. 
When  the  first  gun  is  fired,  all  fear  vanishes,  and  the  soldier 
often  performs  feats  of  the  most  desperate  valor  and  evinces 
the  most  reckless  courage.  If  wounded,  he  feels  nothing 
until  the  battle  is  over  and  all  excitement  is  gone.  It  is  a 
merciful  provision  of  nature  that  the  nearer  we  approach 
death,  the  less  we  fear  it.  This  law  is  universal.  It  is  only 
in  the  vigor  of  youth  and  manhood  that  death  is  looked 
upon  with  horror.  The  aged  view  its  near  approach  with 
calm  serenity.  The  convicted  murderer,  as  long  as  there  is 
hope  of  pardon,  reprieve,  escape,  or  commutation  of  the 
death-penalty,  evinces  the  utmost  dread  of  the  scaffold ; 
but  when  the  death-penalty  is  pronounced,  and  all  hope  has 


HYPNOTISM  AND  CRIME. 


135 


fled,  he  often  evinces  the  utmost  indifference,  welcomes  the 
day  of  his  execution,  and  marches  to  the  scaffold  without  a 
tremor.  The  newspapers  speak  with  wonder  and  admira¬ 
tion  of  his  courage,  and  the  universal  verdict  is  that  he  was 
a  brave  man,  and  “  died  game.”  The  truth  is  that  the  uni¬ 
versal  law  of  which  we  speak,  that  merciful  provision  of 
nature  which  nerves  alike  the  brave  man  and  the  coward, 
steps  in  to  his  defence,  his  objective  senses  are  benumbed, 
and  he  submits  to  the  inevitable  change  without  fear  and 
without  pain. 

The  testimony  of  Dr.  Livingstone  is  to  the  same  effect. 
He  was  once  seized  by  a  lion  when  hunting  in  the  jungles 
of  Africa,  and  carried  some  distance,  his  body  between  the 
lion’s  jaws.  When  death  seemed  inevitable,  he  testifies  that 
all  fear  left  him,  and  a  delicious  languor  stole  over  his 
senses.  The  grasp  of  the  lion’s  jaws  caused  no  pain,  and 
he  felt  fully  resigned  to  his  fate.  A  fortunate  shot  from 
the  gun  of  one  of  his  companions  released  him,  and  he  was 
rescued. 

This,  however,  is  a  digression.  The  main  point  which  it 
is  desired  to  enforce  is,  first,  that  the  strongest  instinct  in 
mankind  is  that  of  self-preservation  j  and  second,  that  this 
instinct,  this  strong  desire  to  preserve  the  life  of  the  body, 
constitutes  a  subjective,  or  an  instinctive,  auto-suggestion  of 
such  supreme  potency  that  no  suggestion  from  another,  nor 
any  objective  auto-suggestion,  could  possibly  overcome  it. 
The  inevitable  conclusion  is  that  suicide  is  certainly  not  a 
crime  which  can  be  successfully  instigated  by  means  of 
hypnotism. 

Criminal  abortion  is  another  of  the  crimes  which,  the 
people  are  told,  can  be  performed  by  means  of  hypnotic 
suggestion.  The  inherent  absurdity  of  this  statement  is 
almost  as  great  as  that  suicide  can  be  successfully  instigated 
by  such  means.  It  is  here  that  another  strong  instinct  pre¬ 
vails  against  a  suggestion  of  that  character,  namely,  the 
desire  inherent  in  the  soul  of  the  mother  to  preserve  her 
offspring.  It  is  possibly  true  that  conception  could  be  pre 
vented  by  hypnotic  suggestion,  and  it  may  be  true  that  bar- 


136  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 

renness  is  sometimes  caused  by  unconscious  auto-suggestion  ; 
but  a  very  different  state  of  affairs  exists  after  the  foetus  is 
once  formed.  The  instinctive  desire  to  preserve  the  life 
that  exists,  constitutes  an  instinctive  auto-suggestion  which 
no  suggestion  from  another,  nor  even  the  objective  auto¬ 
suggestion  of  the  mother,  could  prevail  against. 

It  may  be  safely  set  down,  therefore,  as  a  fundamental 
truth  of  hypnotic  science  that  the  auto-suggestion  most 
difficult  to  overcome  is  that  which  originates  in  the  normal 
action  of  the  subjective  mind,  —  otherwise,  instinctive  auto¬ 
suggestion. 

The  .same  line  of  reasoning  applies,  though  with  some¬ 
what  diminished  force,  to  the  commission  of  other  crimes. 
We  will  suppose  the  most  favorable  condition  possible  for 
procuring  the  commission  of  a  capital  crime ;  namely,  a 
criminal  hypnotist  in  control  of  a  criminal  subject.  The 
disposition  of  the  subject  might  not  stand  in  the  way ; 
there  might  be  no  auto-suggestion  against  the  commission 
of  crime  in  the  habits  and  principles  of  the  life  of  the  sub¬ 
ject,"  and  yet  the  instinct  of  self-preservation  would  have 
its  weight  and  influence  in  suggesting  to  him  that  the  com¬ 
mission  of  a  murder  would  imperil  his  own  life.  Such  a 
consideration  would  operate  as  potently  in  the  hypnotic 
condition  as  it  would  in  the  normal  state.  It  would  be  an 
instinctive  auto-suggestion,  just  the  same  as  in  the  case  of 
suicide,  although  it  would  operate  indirectly  in  one  case, 
and  directly  in  the  other.  The  deductive  reasoning  of  the 
subjective  mind,  as  we  have  seen  in  preceding  chapters,  is 
perfect ;  and  in  the  case  supposed,  the  subject  would  in¬ 
stantaneously  reason  from  the  proposed  crime  to  its  con¬ 
sequences  to  himself.  The  same  law  would  operate  in 
preventing  the  commission  of  crimes  of  less  magnitude, 
with  a  resistance  decreased  in  proportion  to  the  nature  of 
the  offence.  But  it  would,  in  all  cases,  be  a  factor  of  great 
importance  in  the  prevention  of  crime ;  for  the  subjective 
mind  is  ever  alert  where  the  safety  and  well-being  of  the 
individual  are  concerned.  This  law  is  universal,  and  has 
often  been  manifested  in  the  most  striking  manner.  Pre- 


HYPNOTISM  AND  CRIME. 


137 


monitions  of  impending  danger,  so  often  felt  and  recorded, 
are  manifestations  of  the  constant  solicitude  of  the  sub¬ 
jective  entity  for  the  welfare  of  the  individual.  It  is 
comparatively  rare  that  these  subjective  impressions  are 
brought  above  the  threshold  of  consciousness ;  but  this  is 
largely  due  to  the  habits  of  thought  of  mankind  at  the 
present  day.  Generally  such  impressions  are  disregarded, 
and  in  this  sceptical  and  materialistic  age  are  often  rele¬ 
gated  to  the  domain  of  superstition.  When  they  are  felt 
and  acted  upon,  they  are  generally  attributed  to  a  super¬ 
natural  source.  The  daemon  of  Socrates  is  a  strong  case  in 
point.  He  believed  himself  to  have  been  constantly  at¬ 
tended  by  a  familiar  spirit,  whose  voice  he  could  hear,  and 
whose  admonitions  were  always  wise.  That  he  did  hear 
voices  there  can,  in  the  light  of  modern  science,  be  little 
doubt.  It  is  noteworthy,  however,  that  the  voice  was 
generally  one  of  warning,  and  that  its  strongest  manifesta¬ 
tions  were  made  when  his  personal  safety  or  his  personal 
well-being  was  involved.  The  explanation,  in  i)ursuance 
of  the  hypothesis  under  discussion  in  this  book,  is  not 
difficult.  He  was  endowed  with  that  rare  faculty  which, 
in  one  way  or  another,  belongs  to  all  men  of  true  genius, 
and  which  enabled  him  to  draw  from  the  storehouse  of 
subjective  knowledge.  In  his  case  the  threshold  of  con¬ 
sciousness  was  so  easily  displacetl  that  his  subjective  mind 
was  able  at  will  to  communicate  with  his  objective  mind 
in  words  audible  to  his  senses.  This  phenomenon  is 
known  to  spiritists  as  clairaudience.  As  before  remarked, 
this  voice  was  generally  one  of  warning,  and  was  the  di¬ 
rect  manifestation  of  that  strongest  instinct  of  the  human 
soul,  —  the  instinct  of  self-preser\'ation. 

To  this  the  classical  student  will  doubtless  interpose  the 
objection  that  the  dsemon  failed  to  warn  the  philosopher 
in  the  hour  of  his  direst  need  ;  it  failed  to  admonish  him 
against  that  course  of  conduct  which  led  to  inevitable 
death.  Socrates  was  accustomed  to  construe  the  silence  of 
the  daemon  as  an  approval  of  his  conduct ,  and  when  the 
decisive  moment  arrived  when  he  could  have  saved  him- 


I3S  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 

self  had  he  chosen  to  do  so,  the  divine  voice  was  silent. 
Only  once  did  it  interpose  its  warning,  and  that  was  to 
prevent  him  from  preparing  a  speech  which  might  have 
saved  him  from  the  hemlock. 

The  explanation  of  this  failure  may  be  found  in  the  ex¬ 
perience  of  all  mankind.  This  instinctive  clinging  to  life 
weakens  with  advancing  years,  and  appears  to  cease  al¬ 
together  the  moment  a  man’s  career  of  usefulness  in  life 
has  ended.  This  is  the  experience  of  every-day  life.  Men 
grow  rich,  and  in  the  full  vigor  of  a  green  old  age  retire 
from  business,  hoping  to  enjoy  many  years  of  rest.  The 
result  is,  generally,  death  in  a  very  short  time.  An  old 
man  thrown  out  of  employment,  with  nothing  to  hope  for 
in  the  future,  lies  down  and  dies.  Another,  losing  his 
aged  companion,  follows  within  a  few  days  or  weeks. 
Another  lives  only  to  see  his  children  married  and  settled, 
and  when  that  is  accomplished,  cheerfully  lets  go  his  hold 
on  life.  In  fact,  it  seems  to  be  as  much  an  instinct  to 
die,  when  one’s  usefulness  is  ended,  as  to  cling  to  life  as 
long  as  there  is  something  to  do  to  contribute  to  the 
general  welfare. 

Socrates  was  an  old  man.  He  had  lived  a  long  and 
useful  life,  but  his  career  of  usefulness  was  ended ;  for 
the  authorities  of  the  State  had  decided  that  his  teachings 
were  impious,  and  corrupting  to  youth.  Had  he  lived, 
it  would  have  been  at  the  price  of  dishonor,  his  compen¬ 
sation  a  miserable  old  age.  Besides,  his  doctrine  that 
death  is  not  an  evil,  together  with  his  lofty  sentiments  re¬ 
garding  the  duty  of  the  citizen  to  the  commonwealth,  —  a 
duty  which  he  maintained  could  be  performed  in  his  case 
only  by  submitting  to  its  decrees  and  carrying  into  execu¬ 
tion  its  judgments,  —  constituted  a  potential  element  of 
auto-suggestion  which  must  be  considered  in  estimating 
the  psychological  features  of  his  case.  He  felt  that  the 
principles  of  his  whole  life  would  be  violated  by  any  at¬ 
tempt  to  escape  or  evade  the  penalty  which  had  been 
decreed  against  him ;  and  he  spent  his  last  hours  in  an 
effort  to  convince  his  friends  that  the  death  of  the  body  is 


HYPNOTISM  AND  CRIME. 


139 


not  an  evil,  when  life  is  purchased  at  the  price  of  dishonor. 
He  felt  that  the  philosophy  which  it  had  been  the  business 
of  his  life  to  teach,  could  only  be  vindicated  by  his  death, 
at  the  time  and  in  the  manner  decreed  by  the  State.  The 
supreme  moment  had  arrived ;  the  instinct  of  death  was 
upon  him ;  and,  in  philosophical  communion  with  his  fol¬ 
lowers,  he  calmly  drank  the  hemlock,  and  died  the  death 
of  a  philosopher. 

The  value  of  testimony  in  criminal  cases,  obtained  by 
means  of  hypnotism,  has  been  very  freely  discussed  by 
those  who  have  given  their  attention  to  the  legal  aspect  of 
the  question.  Assuming  that  a  person  has  been  hypno¬ 
tized,  and  caused  to  commit  a  crime,  the  question  natu¬ 
rally  arises.  What  means  are  at  hand  to  convict  the  guilty 
party?  How  is  evidence  to  be  obtained,  and  what  is  its 
value  when  obtained?  As  it  has  been  shown  to  be  a  prac¬ 
tical  impossibility  to  procure  the  commission  of  crime  by 
means  of  hypnotic  suggestion,  it  will  be  unnecessary  and 
unprofitable  to  discuss  the  question  at  great  length,  and  it 
will  be  dismissed  after  the  presentation  of  the  vital  point. 
It  is  obvious  that  when  it  is  demonstrated  that  evidence 
is  unreliable,  and  necessarily  unworthy  of  credence,  it  is 
useless  to  discuss  the  ways  and  means  of  obtaining  such 
evidence  for  use  in  a  court  of  justice.  The  intricate  maze 
of  metaphysical  disquisition  in  which  this  question  has 
been  so  ably  obscured  by  writers  on  the  subject,  will  not 
be  entered.  It  is  sufficient  to  know  that  no  testimony  ob¬ 
tained  from  a  subject  in  a  state  of  hypnotism,  relating  to 
any  vital  question  which  involves  the  guilt  or  innocence  of 
himself  or  his  friends,  is  of  any  value  whatever.  It  is  a 
popular  belief,  handed  down  through  the  ages,  that  a  som¬ 
nambulic  subject  will  always  tell  the  truth,  and  that  all  the 
secrets  of  a  sleep-walker  can  be  obtained  from  him  for  the 
asking.  This  belief  has  also  been  held  regarding  the  hyp¬ 
notic  subject ;  and  it  is  upon  this  assumption  that  the  hy¬ 
pothetical  value  of  his  testimony  in  criminal  jurisprudence 
depends.  It  is  true  that,  on  ordinary  questions,  the  truth 
is  always  uppermost  in  the  subjective  mind.  A  hypnotic 


140  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


subject  will  often  say,  during  the  hypnotic  sleep,  that 
which  he  would  not  say  in  his  waking  moments.  Never¬ 
theless,  he  never  betrays  a  vital  secret.  The  reason  is 
obvious  to  those  who  have  followed  the  line  of  argument 
in  the  preceding  pages  of  this  chapter.  The  instinct  of 
self-preservation,  always  alert  to  avert  any  danger  which 
threatens  the  individual,  steps  in  to  his  defence.  Instinc¬ 
tive  auto-suggestion  here  plays  its  subtle  role,  and  no  sug¬ 
gestion  from  another  can  prevail  against  it.  If  the  defence 
involves  falsehood,  a  falsehood  will  be  told,  without  the 
slightest  hesitation ;  and  it  will  be  told  with  preternatural 
acumen,  and  with  such  plausible  circumstantiality  of  detail 
as  to  deceive  the  very  elect.  Neither  will  there  be  any 
variance  or  shadow  of  turning  after  repeated  experiments, 
for  the  memory  of  the  subjective  mind  is  perfect. 

This  rule  holds  good,  not  only  with  regard  to  secrets 
which  involve  the  personal  safety  of  the  individual,  but  in 
all  matters  pertaining  to  his  material  interests,  his  reputa¬ 
tion,  or  the  interests  of  his  friends,  whose  secrets  are  con¬ 
fided  to  his  care.  That  this  is  true  is  presumptively  proved 
by  the  fact  that  in  all  the  years  during  which  the  science  of 
hypnotism  has  been  practised,  no  one  has  ever  been  known 
to  betray  the  secrets  of  any  society  or  order.  The  attempt 
has  often  been  made,  but  it  has  never  succeeded.  The 
truth  of  this  assertion  can  be  demonstrated  at  any  time  by 
experiment. 

Such  an  experiment  has  a  greater  evidential  value  in 
establishing  the  rule  than  almost  any  other  laboratory  ex¬ 
periment.  A  subject  might  plunge  a  paper  dagger  into  an 
imaginary  man,  or  he  might  draw  a  check,  sign  a  note,  a 
contract,  or  a  deed,  in  obedience  to  experimental  sugges¬ 
tions,  when  he  would  not  commit  a  real  crime,  or  sign 
away  his  birthright,  in  obedience  to  criminal  suggestion. 
But  when  a  subject  is  asked  to  betray  the  secrets  of  a  so¬ 
ciety  to  which  he  belongs,  it  is  quite  a  different  matter.  In 
the  one  case  a  compliance  with  the  suggestion  proves  noth¬ 
ing,  simply  because  it  is  a  laboratory  experiment.  In  the 
other  case  his  refusal  to  comply  with  the  suggestion  proves 


HYPNOTISM  AND  CRIME.  I41 

everything,  because  his  betrayal  of  such  a  secret  in  the 
laboratory  is  just  as  vital  as  to  betray  it  elsewhere. 

It  is  obvious,  therefore,  that  the  testimony  of  a  hypno¬ 
tized  subject  in  a  court  of  justice  can  possess  no  evidential 
value  whatever.  Not  one  of  the  conditions  would  be  pres¬ 
ent  which  give  weight  to  human  testimony.  The  subject 
could  not  be  punished  for  perjury  if  he  swore  falsely.  In 
matters  of  indifference  to  him  he  would  be  in  constant 
danger  of  being  swayed  by  the  artful  or  accidental  sugges¬ 
tion  of  another.  A  false  premise  suggested  to  him  at  the 
start  would  color  and  pervert  his  whole  testimony.  A  cross- 
examination  would  utterly  confuse  him,  and  almost  inevita¬ 
bly  restore  him  to  normal  consciousness.  On  questions  of 
vital  interest  to  himself,  auto-suggestion  would  cause  him  to 
resort  to  falsehood  if  the  truth  would  militate  against  him. 

It  is  thought  that  enough  has  been  said  to  show  that  the 
dangers  attending  the  practice  of  hypnotism  have  been 
grossly  exaggerated,  and  that  the  sources  of  danger,  which 
the  people  are  so  persistently  warned  against,  have  no  ex¬ 
istence  in  fact.  The  premises  laid  down  will  not  be  gain¬ 
said  by  any  who  understand  the  law  of  suggestion.  The 
conclusions  are  inevitable.  The  law  of  auto-suggestion  has 
been  recognized  by  Continental  writers,  as  has  been  shown 
by  extracts  from  their  books ;  but  they  have  failed  to  carry 
it  to  its  legitimate  conclusion  when  treating  the  subject  of 
the  legal  aspects  of  hypnotism.  It  is  perhaps  not  strange 
that  they  should  fail  in  this  respect,  in  view  of  the  vital  in¬ 
terest  which  physicians  have  in  hypnotism  as  a  therapeutic 
agent.  But  they  should  remember  that  the  subject  is  also 
of  vital  interest  to  students  of  psychology,  and  that  it  is 
only  by  a  study  of  its  psychological  aspects  that  hypnotism 
can  be  intelligently  applied  to  the  cure  of  disease.  That 
the  phenomena  displayed  through  its  agency  possess  a  sig¬ 
nificance  which  far  transcends  that  which  attaches  to  it  as 
a  substitute  for  pills,  is  a  proposition  which  will  not  be  dis¬ 
puted,  even  by  those  who  seek  to  monopolize  its  forces. 
It  is  hoped,  therefore,  that  the  psychological  student  will 
be  graciously  permitted  to  pursue  his  studies  at  least  until 


142 


THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


it  is  shown  that  physicians  enjoy  such  a  monopoly  of  the 
cardinal  virtues  that  it  is  unsafe  to  intrust  the  forces  of 
nature  in  the  hands  of  others. 

In  the  mean  time  the  world  at  large  will  continue  to 
believe  that  the  laws  of  hypnotism  are  no  exception  to 
the  rule  that  the  forces  of  nature,  when  once  understood, 
are  designed  for  the  highest  good  of  mankind ;  and  they 
will  continue  to  demand  that  those  forces  shall  not  be 
monopolized  by  any  man,  or  set  of  men,  body  politic, 
or  corporation. 

From  what  has  been  said,  the  supreme  folly  of  legislation 
to  prohibit  experiments  in  hypnotism  is  manifest.  No  one 
will  deny  that  when  a  hypnotist  permits  himself  to  exercise 
his  art  in  private  he  is  in  possession  of  opportunities  which, 
under  other  conditions,  might  give  him  an  undue  advan¬ 
tage  over  a  subject  of  the  opposite  sex ;  but,  from  the  very 
nature  of  things,  that  advantage  is  infinitely  less  than  that 
enjoyed  by  physicians  in  their  habitual  intercourse  with 
their  patients.  Until  it  is  shown  that  physicians  never  take 
advantage  of  their  confidential  relations  with  their  patients  ; 
until  it  is  shown  that  physicians  are  exempt  from  human 
passions  and  frailties ;  or,  at  least,  until  it  is  shown  that 
physicians  are  more  platonic  in  their  emotions  than  the 
ordinary  run  of  human  beings,  —  the  world  will  continue 
to  regard  their  demand  that  the  study  of  experimental 
psychology  shall  be  restricted  by  legislation  to  the  medical 
profession,  as  an  exhibition  of  monumental  impudence.  It 
cannot  be  forgotten  that  it  was  the  medical  profession  that 
drove  Mesmer  into  a  dishonored  exile  and  a  premature 
grave  for  the  sole  reason  that  he  healed  the  sick  without 
the  use  of  pills.  The  faculty  ridiculed,  proscribed,  and 
ostracized  every  medical  man  who  dared  to  conduct  an 
honest  investigation  of  mesmeric  phenomena.  And  now 
that  the  scientists  of  Europe  are  compelled  to  admit  the 
therapeutic  value  of  the  science,  they  are  instant  in  demand 
that  no  one  but  physicians  shall  be  permitted  to  make  ex¬ 
periments.  It  is  perhaps  natural  and  right  that  the  treat¬ 
ment  of  disease  by  means  of  drugs  should  be  restricted  to 


HYPNOTISM  AND  CRIME. 


143 


those  who  are  educated  in  the  proper  use  of  drugs;  but 
the  employment  of  psychic  powers  and  remedies  rests  upon 
an  entirely  different  footing.  'I'heir  demand  that  hypno¬ 
tism  be  reserved  for  their  exclusive  use  rests  not  upon  their 
knowledge  of  its  laws,  but  is  founded  upon  their  wilful 
ignorance  of  the  fundamental  principles  which  underlie 
the  science. 


CHAPTER  XL 


PSYCHO-THERAPEUTICS. 


HistoricaV  Notes.  —  Mind  Cure  in  Ancient  Times.  —  Bible  Accounts. 

—  Miracles  of  the  Church. —  Healing -by  the  King’s  Touch. — 
Views  of  Paracelsus  and  Pomponazzi.  —  Bernheim’s  Experiments. 

—  The  Modern  Schools.  —  Their  Theories.  —  The  True  Hypothe¬ 
sis  applicable  to  all  Systems. — Illustrations  of  the  Theory. — 
Producing  a  Blister  by  Suggestion.  —  Bloody  Stigmata. — Letters 
of  Blood.  —  Objective  Control  of  Subjective  Mind.  —  Subjective 
Control  of  Bodily  Functions.  —  The  Necessary  Mental  Conditions. 

—  The  Precepts  and  Example  of  Christ.  —  Subjective  Faith  alone 
required.  —  Discussion  of  Various  Systems.  —  Christian  Science, 
etc.  —  General  Conclusions. 

IN  the  whole  range  of  psychological  research  there  is  no 
branch  of  the  study  of  such  transcendent  practical  in¬ 
terest  and  importance  to  the  world  as  that  which  pertains 
to  its  application  to  the  cure  of  disease.  That  there  resides 
in  mankind  a  psychic  power  over  the  functions  and  sensa¬ 
tions  of  the  body,  and  that  that  power  can  be  invoked  at 
will,  under  certain  conditions,  and  applied  to  the  alleviation 
of  human  suffering,  no  longer  admits  of  a  rational  doubt. 
The  history  of  all  nations  presents  an  unbroken  line  of  testi¬ 
mony  in  support  of  the  truth  of  this  proposition.  In  the 
infancy  of  the  world  the  power  of  secretly  influencing  men 
for  good  or  evil,  including  the  healing  of  the  sick,  was  pos¬ 
sessed  by  the  priests  and  saints  of  all  nations.  Healing  of 
the  sick  was  supposed  to  be  a  power  derived  directly  from 
God,  and  it  was  exerted  by  means  of  prayers  and  cere¬ 
monies,  laying  on  of  hands  and  incantations,  amulets  and 
talismans,  rings,  relics,  and  images,  and  the  knowledge  of 
it  was  transmitted  with  the  sacred  mysteries. 


PS  YCHO-  THERA  PE  V  TICS. 


145 


Numerous  examples  of  the  practice  of  healing  by  the 
touch  and  by  the  laying  on  of  hands  are  related  in  the  Old 
Testament.  Moses  was  directed  by  the  Lord  to  transmit 
his  power  and  honor  to  Joshua  by  the  laying  on  of  hands. 
Elijah  healed  the  dead  child  by  stretching  himself  upon  the 
body  and  calling  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord,  and  Elisha 
raised  the  dead  son  of  the  Shunammite  woman  by  the  same 
means.  It  was  even  supposed  that  the  power  survived  his 
death.  The  New  Testament  is  full  of  examples  of  the  most 
striking  character,  and  the  promise  of  the  Master  to  those 
who  believe,  —  “  In  my  name  shall  they  cast  out  devils ; 
they  shall  speak  with  new  tongues ;  they  shall  take  up  ser¬ 
pents  •,  and  if  they  drink  any  deadly  thing,  it  shall  not  hurt 
them  ;  they  shall  lay  their  hands  on  the  sick,  and  they  shall 
recover,”  —  applies  to  all  mankind  to-day  as  well  as  to  his 
followers  upon  whom  he  had  conferred  his  power  in  person. 
That  this  power  was  transmitted  to  future  generations,  and 
that  the  saints  and  others  regarded  it  as  the  heritage  of  the 
Church  and  employed  it  with  humble  faith,  in  imitation  of 
the  Master,  for  the  good  of  mankind,  is  shown  by  numerous 
examples.  While  the  chroniclers  have  undoubtedly  embel¬ 
lished  many  actual  cures  and  recited  many  fictitious  ones, 
the  fact  that  the  saints  and  others  possessed  healing  powers 
cannot  be  questioned.  Thus,  Saint  Patrick,  the  Irish  apos¬ 
tle,  healed  the  blind  by  laying  on  his  hands. 

“  Saint  Bernard,”  says  Ennemoser,  “  is  said  to  have  restored 
eleven  blind  persons  to  sight,  and  eighteen  lame  persons  to  the 
use  of  their  limbs  in  one  day  at  Constance.  At  Cologne  he 
healed  twelve  lame,  caused  three  dumb  persons  to  speak,  ten 
who  were  deaf  to  hear,  and,  when  he  himself  was  ill.  Saint 
Lawrence  and  Saint  Benedict  appeared  to  him,  and  cured  him 
by  touching  the  affected  part.  Even  his  plates  and  dishes  are 
said  to  have  cured  sickness  after  his  death !  The  miracles  of 
Saints  Margaret,  Katherine,  Hildegarde,  and  especially  the 
miraculous  cures  of  the  two  holy  martyrs.  Cosmos  and  Dami- 
anus,  belong  to  this  class.  Among  others,  they  freed  the  Em¬ 
peror  Justinian  from  an  incurable  sickness.  Saint  Odilia 
embraced  in  her  arms  a  leper  who  was  shunned  by  all  men, 
warmed  him,  and  restored  him  to  health. 


146  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


“  Remarkable  above  all  others  are  those  cases  where  persons 
who  were  at  the  point  of  death  have  recovered  by  holy  baptism 
or  extreme  unction.  The  Emperor  Constantine  is  one  of  the 
most  singular  examples.  Pyrrhus,  king  of  Epirus,  had  the  power 
of  assuaging  colic  and  affections  of  the  spleen  by  laying  the 
patients  on  their  backs  and  passing  his  great  toe  over  them. 
The  Emperor  Vespasian  cured  nervous  affections,  lameness, 
and  blindness,  solely  by  the  laying  on  of  his  hands.  According 
to  Coelius  Spartianus,  Hadrian  cured  those  afflicted  with  dropsy 
by  touching  them  with  the  points  of  his  fingers,  and  recovered 
himself  from  a  violent  fever  by  similar  treatment.  King  Olaf 
healed  Egill  on  the  spot  by  merely  laying  his  hands  upon  him 
and  singing  proverbs.  The  kings  of  England  and  France  cured 
diseases  of  the  throat  by  touch.  It  is  said  that  the  pious  Ed¬ 
ward  the  Confessor,  and,  in  France,  that  Philip  the  First  were 
the  first  who  possessed  this  power.  In  England  the  disease 
was  therefore  called  ‘king’s  evil.’  In  France  this  power  was 
retained  till  within  a  recent  period.  Among  German  princes 
this  curative  power  was  ascribed  to  the  Counts  of  Hapsburg, 
and  also  that  they  were  able  to  cure  stammering  by  a  kiss. 
Pliny  says,  ‘  There  are  men  whose  whole  bodies  possess  medi¬ 
cinal  properties,  —  as  the  Marsi,  the  Psyli,  and  others,  who 
cure  the  bite  of  serpents  merely  by  the  touch.’  This  he  re¬ 
marks  especially  of  the  island  of  Cyprus,  and  later  travellers 
confirm  these  cures  by  the  touch.  In  later  times  the  Salma- 
dores  and  Ensalmadores  of  Spain  became  very  celebrated,  who 
healed  almost  all  diseases  by  prayer,  laying  on  of  the  hands, 
and  by  the  breath.  In  Ireland,  Valentine  Greatrakes  cured  at 
first  king’s  evil  by  his  hands ;  later,  fever,  wounds,  tumors, 
gout,  and  at  length  all  diseases.  In  the  seventeenth  century  the 
gardener  Levret  and  the  notorious  Streeper  performed  cures  in 
London  by  stroking  with  the  hand.  ■  In  a  similar  manner  cures 
were  performed  by  Michael  Medina  and  the  Child  of  Sala¬ 
manca;  also  Marcellus  Empiricus.  Richter,  an  innkeeper  at 
Royen,  in  Silicia,  cured,  in  the  years  1817,  1818,  many  thousands 
of  sick  persons  in  the  open  fields  by  touching  them  with  his 
hands.  Under  the  popes,  laying  on  of  the  hands  was  called 
‘  chirothesy.’  ” 

Again,  Ennemoser  says  ;  — 

“As  regards  the  resemblance  which  the  science  bears  to 
magnetism,  it  is  certain  that  not  only  were  the  ancients  ac¬ 
quainted  with  an  artificial  method  of  treating  disease,  but  also 
with  somnambulism  itself.  Among  others,  Agrippa  von  Neb 


PSYCHO-THERAPEUTICS. 


147 


tesTieim  speaks  of  this  plainly  when  he  says,  in  his  ‘  Occulta 
Philosophia  ’  (page  451) :  ‘  There  is  a  science,  known  to  but  very 
few,  of  illuminating  and  instructing  the  mind,  so  that  at  one 
step  it  is  raised  from  the  darkness  of  ignorance  to  the  light  of 
wisdom.  This  is  produced  principally  by  a  species  of  artificial 
sleep,  in  which  a  man  forgets  the  present,  and,  as  it  were,  per¬ 
ceives  the  future  through  divine  inspiration.  Unbelieving  and 
wicked  persons  can  also  be  deprived  of  this  power  by  secret 
means.” 

Coming  down  to  more  recent  times,  we  find  that  cures, 
seemingly  miraculous,  are  as  common  to-day  as  at  any 
period  of  the  world’s  history.  In  fact,  one  unbroken  line 
of  such  phenomena  is  presented  to  the  student  of  psycho¬ 
therapeutics,  which  extends  from  the  earliest  period  of  re¬ 
corded  history  to  the  present  time.  At  no  time  in  the 
world’s  history  has  there  been  such  a  widespread  interest  in 
the  subject  as  now;  and  the  hopeful  feature  is  that  the 
subject  is  no  longer  relegated  to  the  domain  of  supersti¬ 
tion,  but  is  being  studied  by  all  classes  of  people,  from 
the  ablest  scientists  down  to  the  humblest  peasant.  The 
result  is  that  theories  almost  innumerable  have  been  ad¬ 
vanced  to  account  for  what  all  admit  to  be  a  fact,  namely, 
that  there  exists  a  power  to  alleviate  human  suffering,  which 
lies  not  within  the  domain  of  material  science,  but  which 
can  be  invoked  at  the  will  of  man  and  controlled  by  human 
intelligence. 

It  would  be  tedious  and  unprofitable  to  discuss  at  length 
the  numerous  theories  advanced  by  the  different  sects  and 
schools  which  have  an  existence  to-day.  It  is  sufficient  to 
know  that  all  these  schools  effect  cures  of  the  most  wonder¬ 
ful  character,  many  of  them  taking  rank  with  the  miracles 
of  the  Master.  This  one  fact  stands  out  prominent  and 
significant,  namely,  that  the  theories  advanced  to  account 
for  the  phenomena  seem  to  have  no  effect  upon  the  power 
invoked. 

Paracelsus  stated  what  is  now  an  obvious  scientific  fact 
when  he  uttered  these  words  ;  — 

“  Whether  the  object  of  your  faith  be  real  or  false,  you  will 
nevertheless  obtain  the  same  effects.  Thus,  if  I  believe  in 


148  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


Saint  Peter’s  statue  as  I  should  have  believed  in  Saint  Peter 
himself,  I  shall  obtain  the  same  effects  that  I  should  have  ob¬ 
tained  from  Saint  Peter.  But  that  is  superstition.  Faith,  how¬ 
ever,  produces  miracles ;  and  whether  it  is  a  true  or  a  false 
faith,  it  will  always  produce  the  same  wonders.” 

Much  to  the  same  effect  are  the  words  uttered  in  the  six¬ 
teenth  century  by  Pomponazzi :  — 

“  We  can  easily  conceive  the  marvellous  effects  which  confi¬ 
dence  and  imagination  can  produce,  particularly  when  both 
qualities  are  reciprocated  between  the  subjects  and  the  person 
who  influences  them.  The  cures  attributed  to  the  influence  of 
certain  relics  are  the  effect  of  this  imagination  and  confidence. 
Quacks  and  philosophers  know  that  if  the  bones  of  any  skeleton 
were  put  in  place  of  the  saint’s  bones,  the  sick  would  none  the 
less  experience  beneficial  effects,  if  they  believed  that  they  were 
near  veritable  relics.” 

Bernheim,^  quoting  the  foregoing  passages,  follows  with  a 
story,  related  by  Sobernheim,  of  a  man  with  a  paralysis  of  the 
tongue  which  had  yielded  to  no  form  of  treatment,  who  put 
himself  under  a  certain  doctor’s  care.  The  doctor  wished 
to  try  an  instrument  of  his  own  invention,  with  which  he 
promised  himself  to  get  excellent  results.  Before  perform¬ 
ing  the  operation,  he  introduced  a  pocket  thermometer 
into  the  patient’s  mouth.  The  patient  imagined  it  to  be 
the  instrument  which  was  to  save  him.  In  a  few  minutes 
he  cried  out  joyfully  that  he  could  once  more  move  his 
tongue  freely. 

“  Among  our  cases,”  continues  Bernheim,  “  facts  of  the  same 
sort  will  be  found.  A  young  girl  came  into  my  service,  having 
suffered  from  complete  nervous  aphonia  for  nearly  four  weeks. 
After  making  sure  of  the  diagnosis,  I  told  my  students  that 
nervous  aphonia  sometimes  yielded  instantly  to  electricity,  which 
might  act  simply  by  its  suggestive  influence.  I  sent  for  the  in¬ 
duction  apparatus.  Before  using  it  I  wanted  to  try  simple  sug¬ 
gestion  by  affirmation.  I  applied  my  hand  over  the  larynx  and 
moved  it  a  little,  and  said,  ‘Now  you  can  speak  aloud.’  In  an 


^  Suggestive  Therapeutics,  p.  197. 


PSYCHO-THERAPEUTICS.  1 49 

instant  I  made  her  say  ‘a,’  then  ‘b,’  then  ‘Maria.’  She  con¬ 
tinued  to  speak  distinctly ;  the  aphonia  had  disappeared. 

“  ‘  The  “  Biblioth^que  choisie  de  Mddicine,”  ’  says  Hack  Tuke, 
‘gives  a  typical  example  of  the  influence  exercised  by  the  imag¬ 
ination  over  intestinal  action  during  sleep.  Ihe  daughter  of 
the  consul  at  Hanover,  aged  eighteen,  intended  to  use  rhubarb, 
for  which  she  had  a  particular  dislike,  on  a  following  day.  She 
dreamed  that  she  had  taken  the  abhorred  dose.  Influenced  by 
this  imaginary  rhubarb,  she  waked  up,  and  had  five  or  six  easy 
evacuations.’ 

“  The  same  result  is  seen  in  a  case  reported  by  Demangeon.i 
‘  A  monk  intended  to  purge  himself  on  a  certain  morning.  On 
the  night  previous  he  dreamed  that  he  had  taken  the  medicine, 
and  consequently  waked  up  to  yield  to  nature’s  demands.  He 
had  eight  movements.’ 

“  But  among  all  the  moral  causes  which,  appealing  to  the 
imagination,  set  the  cerebral  mechanism  of  possible  causes  at 
work,  none  is  so  efficacious  as  religious  faith.  Numbers  of  au¬ 
thentic  cures  have  certainly  been  due  to  it. 

“  The  Princess  of  Schwartzenburg  had  suffered  for  eight 
years  from  a  paraplegia  for  which  the  most  celebrated  doctors 
in  Germany  and  f' ranee  had  been  consulted.  In  1821  the  Prince 
of  Hohenlohe,  who  had  been  a  priest  since  1815,  brought  a 
peasant  to  the  princess,  who  had  convinced  the  young  prince  of 
the  power  of  prayer  in  curing  disease.  The  mechanical  appa¬ 
ratus,  which  had  been  used  by  Dr.  Heine  for  several  months 
to  overcome  the  contracture  of  the  limbs,  was  removed.  The 
prince  asked  the  paralytic  to  join  her  faith  both  to  his  and  the 
peasant’s.  ‘  Do  you  believe  you  are  already  helped  ?  ’  ‘  Oh, 

yes,  I  believe  so  most  sincerely  !  ’  ‘  Well,  rise  and  walk.’  At 
these  words  the  princess  rose  and  walked  around  the  room  sev¬ 
eral  times,  and  tried  going  up  and  down  stairs.  The  next  day 
she  went  to  church,  and  from  this  time  on  she  had  the  use  of 
her  limbs.”  ^ 

Bernheim  then  proceeds  to  give  a  resume  of  some  of  the 
histories  of  cures  which  took  place  at  Lourdes,  where  thou¬ 
sands  flock  annually  to  partake  of  the  healing  waters  of  the 
famous  grotto.  The  history  of  that  wonderful  place  is  too 
well  known  to  need  repetition  here.  It  is  sufficient  to  say 
that  thousands  of  cures  have  been  effected  there  through 


1  De  rimagination,  1879. 


*  Charpignon. 


150  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 

prayer  and  religious  faith,  and  the  cures  are  as  well  authen¬ 
ticated  as  any  fact  in  history  or  science. 

The  most  prominent  and  important  methods  of  healing 
the  sick  now  in  vogue  may  be  briefly  summarized  as  follows  : 

1.  Prayer  and  religious  faith,  as  exemplified  in  the  cures 
performed  at  Lourdes  and  at  other  holy  shrines.  To  this 
class  also  belong  the  cures  effected  by  prayer  alone,  the  sys¬ 
tem  being  properly  known  in  this  country  as  the  Faith  Cure 
and  the  Prayer  Cure. 

2.  The  Mind  Cure,  —  “a  professed  method  of  healing 
which  rests  upon  the  suppositions  that  all  diseased  states  01 
the  body  are  due  to  abnormal  conditions  of  the  mind,  and 
that  the  latter  (and  thus  the  former)  can  be  cured  by  the 
direct  action  of  the  mind  of  the  healer  upon  the  mind  ot 
the  patient.”  ^ 

3.  Christian  Science.  —  This  method  of  healing  rests  upon 
the  assumption  of  the  unreality  of  matter.  This  assumed 
as  a  major  premise,  it  follows  that  our  bodies  are  unreal, 
and,  consequently,  there  is  no  such  thing  as  disease,  the 
latter  existing  only  in  the  mind,  which  is  the  only  real 
thing  in  existence. 

4.  Spiritism,  which  is  a  system  of  healing  based  on  the 
supposed  interposition  of  spirits  of  the  dead,  operating  di¬ 
rectly,  or  indirectly  through  a  medium,  upon  the  patient. 

5.  Mesmerism.  —  This  includes  all  the  systems  of  healing 
founded  on  the  supposition  that  there  exists  in  man  a  fluid 
which  can  be  projected  upon  another,  at  the  will  of  the 
operator,  with  the  effect  of  healing  disease  by  the  thera¬ 
peutic  action  of  the  fluid  upon  the  diseased  organism. 

6.  Suggestive  Hypnotism.  —  This  method  of  healing  rests 
upon  the  law  that  persons  in  the  hypnotic  condition  are 
constantly  controllable  by  the  power  of  suggestion,  and  that 
by  this  means  pain  is  suppressed,  function  modified,  fever 
calmed,  secretion  and  excretion  encouraged,  etc.,  and  thus 
nature,  the  healer,  is  permitted  to  do  the  work  of  restoration. 

Each  of  these  schools  is  subdivided  into  sects,  entertain¬ 
ing  modified  theories  of  causation,  and  employing  modified 


^  Century  Dictionary. 


PSYCHO-  THERAPE  UTICS. 


151 

processes  of  applying  the  force  at  their  command.  There 
is  but  one  thing  common  to  them  all,  and  that  is  that  they 
all  cure  diseases. 

We  have,  then,  six  different  systems  of  psycho-therapeu- 
tics,  based  upon  as  many  different  theories,  differing  as 
widely  as  the  poles,  and  each  presenting  indubitable  evi¬ 
dence  of  being  able  to  perform  cures  which  in  any  age  but 
the  present  would  have  been  called  miraculous. 

The  most  obvious  conclusion  which  strikes  the  scientific 
mind  is  that  there  must  be  some  underlying  principle  which 
is  common  to  them  all.  It  is  the  task  of  science  to  dis¬ 
cover  that  principle. 

It  will  now  be  in  order  to  recall  to  the  mind  of  the 
reader,  once  more,  the  fundamental  propositions  of  the 
hypothesis  under  consideration.  They  are, — 

First,  that  man  is  possessed  of  two  minds,  which  we  have 
distinguished  by  designating  one  as  the  objective  mind,  and 
the  other  as  the  subjective  mind. 

Secondly,  that  the  subjective  mind  is  constantly  amenable 
to  control  by  the  power  of  suggestion. 

These  propositions  having  been  established,  at  least  pro¬ 
visionally,  by  the  facts  shown  in  the  foregoing  chapters,  it 
now  remains  to  present  a  subsidiary  proposition,  which  per¬ 
tains  to  the  subject  of  psycho-therapeutics,  namely  :  — 

The  subjective  mind  has  absolute  control  of  the  functions, 
conditions,  and  sensations  of  the  body. 

This  proposition  seems  almost  .self-evident,  and  will  re¬ 
ceive  the  instant  assent  of  all  who  are  familiar  with  the 
simplest  phenomena  of  hypnotism.  It  is  well  known,  and 
no  one  at  all  acquainted  with  hypnotic  phenomena  nov/ 
disputes  the  fact,  that  perfect  anesthesia  can  be  produced 
at  the  will  of  the  operator  simply  by  suggestion.  Hundreds 
of  cases  are  recorded  where  the  most  severe  surgical  opera¬ 
tions  have  been  performed  without  pain  upon  patients  in 
the  hypnotic  condition.  The  fact  can  be  verified  at  any 
time  by  experiment  on  almost  any  hypnotic  subject,  and  in 
case  of  particularly  sensitive  subjects  the  phenomena  can 
be  produced  in  the  waking  condition.  How  the  subjective 


152 


THE  LA  IV  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


mind  controls  the  functions  and  sensations  of  the  body, 
mortal  man  may  never  know.  It  is  certain  that  the  prob¬ 
lem  cannot  be  solved  by  reference  to  physiology  or  cere¬ 
bral  anatomy.  It  is  simply  a  scientific  fact  which  we  must 
accept  because  it  is  susceptible  of  demonstration,  and  not 
because  its  ultimate  cause  can  be  explained. 

The  three  foregoing  fundamental  propositions  cover  the 
whole  domain  of  psycho-therapeutics,  and  constitute  the 
basis  of  explanation  of  all  phenomena  pertaining  thereto. 

It  seems  almost  superfluous  to  adduce  facts  to  illustrate 
the  wonderful  power  which  the  subjective  mind  possesses 
over  the  functions  of  the  body,  beyond  reminding  the  reader 
of  the  well-known  facts  above  mentioned  regarding  the 
production  of  the  phenomena  of  anesthesia  by  suggestion. 
Nevertheless,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  production 
of  anesthesia  in  a  healthy  subject  is  a  demonstration  of  sub¬ 
jective  power  which  implies  far  more  than  appears  upon  the 
surface.  The  normal  condition  of  the  body  is  that  of  per¬ 
fect  health,  with  all  the  senses  performing  their  legitimate 
functions.  The  production  of  anesthesia  in  a  normal  organ¬ 
ism  is,  therefore,  the  production  of  an  abnormal  condition. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  production  of  anesthesia  in  a  dis¬ 
eased  organism  implies  the  restoration  of  the  normal  condi¬ 
tion,  that  is,  a  condition  of  freedom  from  pain.  In  this, 
all  the  forces  of  nature  unite  to  assist.  And  as  every  force 
in  nature  follows  the  lines  of  least  resistance,  it  follows  that 
it  is  much  easier  to  cure  diseases  by  mental  processes  than 
it  is  to  create  them ;  provided  always  that  we  understand 
the  modus  operandi. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  symptoms  of  almost  any  disease 
can  be  induced  in  hypnotic  subjects  by  suggestion.  Thus, 
partial  or  total  paralysis  can  be  produced  ;  fever  can  be 
brought  on,  with  all  the  attendant  symptoms,  such  as  rapid 
pulse  and  high  temperature,  flushed  face,  etc. ;  or  chills, 
accompanied  by  a  temperature  abnormally  low ;  or  the 
most  severe  pains  can  be  produced  in  any  part  of  the  body 
or  limbs.  All  these  facts  are  well  known,  and  still  more 
wonderful  facts  are  stated  in  all  the  recent  scientific  works 


PS  YCHO-  THE  RAPE  C/TICS. 


153 


on  hypnotism.  For  instance,  Bernheim  states  that  he  has 
been  able  to  produce  a  blister  on  the  back  of  a  patient  by 
applying  a  postage-stamp  and  suggesting  to  the  patient 
that  it  was  a  fly-plaster.  This  is  confirmed  by  the  experi¬ 
ments  of  Moll  and  many  others,  leaving  no  doubt  of  the 
fact  that  structural  changes  are  a  possible  result  of  oral 
suggestion.  On  this  subject  Bernheim  makes  the  following 
observations :  — 

Finally,  hemorrhages  and  bloody  stigmata  may  be  induced 
in  certain  subjects  by  means  of  suggestion. 

“  MM.  Bourru  and  Burot  of  Rochefort  have  experimented  on 
this  subject  with  a  young  marine,  a  case  of  hystero-epilepsy. 
M.  Bourru  put  him  into  the  somnambulistic  condition,  and  gave 
him  the  following  suggestion :  ‘At  four  o’clock  this  afternoon, 
after  the  hypnosis,  you  will  come  into  my  office,  sit  down  in  the 
arm-chair,  cross  your  arms  upon  your  breast,  and  your  nose  will 
begin  to  bleed.’  At  the  hour  appointed  the  young  man  did  as 
directed.  Several  drops  of  blood  came  from  the  left  nostril. 

“  On  another  occasion  the  same  investigator  traced  the  pa- 
tient’s  name  on  both  his  forearms  with  the  dull  point  of  an 
instrument.  Then,  when  the  patient  was  in  the  somnambulistic 
condition,  he  said,  ‘  At  four  o’clock  this  afternoon  you  will  go  to 
sleep,  and  your  arms  will  bleed  along  the  lines  which  I  have 
traced,  and  your  name  will  appear  written  on  your  arms  in  letters 
of  blood.’  He  was  watched  at  four  o’clock  and  seen  to  fall 
asleep.  On  the  left  arm  the  letters  stood  out  in  bright  red  relief, 
and  in  several  places  there  were  drops  of  blood.  The  letters 
were  still  visible  three  months  afterwards,  although  they  had 
grown  gradually  faint. 

“  Dr.  Mabille,  director  of  the  Insane  Asylum  at  Lafond,  near 
Rochelle,  a  former  pupil  of  excellent  standing,  repeated  the 
experiment  made  upon  the  subject  at  Rochefort,  after  he  was 
removed  to  the  asylum,  and  confirmed  it.  He  obtained  instant 
hemorrhage  over  a  determined  region  of  the  body.  He  also 
induced  an  attack  of  spontaneous  somnambulism,  in  which  the 
patient,  doubting  his  personality,  so  to  speak,  suggested  to  him¬ 
self  the  hemorrhagic  stigmata  on  the  arm,  thus  repeating  the 
marvellous  phenomena  of  the  famous  stigmatized  auto-sugges- 
tionist,  Louis  Lateau. 

“These  facts,  then,  seem  to  prove  that  suggestion  may  act 
upon  the  cardiac  function  and  upon  the  vaso-motor  system. 
Phenomena  of  this  order,  however,  rarely  occur.  They  are 


154  the  law  of  psychic  phenomena. 


exceptional,  and  are  obtained  in  certain  subjects  only.  I  have  in 
vain  tried  to  reproduce  them  in  many  cases.  These  facts  are 
sufficient  to  prove,  however,  that  when  in  a  condition  of  special 
psychical  concentration,  the  brain  can  influence  even  the  organic 
functions,  which  in  the  normal  state  seem  but  slightly  amenable 
to  the  will.”  1 

These  facts  demonstrate  at  once  the  correctness  of  two 
of  the  fundamental  propositions  before  stated ;  namely,  the 
constant  amenability  of  the  subjective  mind  to  the  power  of 
suggestion,  and  the  perfect  control  which  the  subjective 
mind  exercises  over  the  functions,  sensations,  and  condi¬ 
tions  of  the  body.  All  the  foregoing  phenomena  represent 
abnormal  conditions  induced  by  suggestion,  and  are,  as 
before  stated,  all  the  more  conclusive  proofs  of  the  potency 
of  the  force  invoked. 

If,  therefore,  there  exists  in  man  a  power  which,  in 
obedience  to  the  suggestion  of  another,  is  capable  of  pro¬ 
ducing  abnormal  conditions  in  defiance  of  the  natural 
instincts  and  desires  of  all  animal  creation,  how  much  more 
potent  must  be  a  suggestion  which  operates  in  harmony 
with  the  natural  instinctive  desire  of  the  patient  for  the  res¬ 
toration  of  normal  conditions,  and  with  the  constant  effort 
of  nature  to  bring  about  that  result !  At  the  risk  of  repe¬ 
tition,  the  self-evident  proposition  will  be  restated,  that  the 
instinct  of  self-preservation  is  the  strongest  instinct  of  our 
nature,  and  constitutes  a  most  potent,  ever-present,  and 
constantly  operative  auto-suggestion,  inherent  in  our  very 
nature.  It  is  obvious  that  any  outside  suggestion  must 
operate  with  all  the  greater  potentiality  when  it  is  directed 
on  lines  in  harmony  with  instinctive  auto-suggestion.  It 
follows  that  normal  conditions  can  be  restored  with  greater 
ease  and  certainty,  other  things  being  equal,  than  abnormal 
conditions  can  be  induced.  And  thus  it  is  that  by  the 
practice  of  each  of  the  various  systems  of  psycho-therapeu¬ 
tics  we  find  that  the  most  marvellous  cures  are  effected,  and 
are  again  reminded  of  the  words  of  Paracelsus :  “  Whether 


^  Suggestive  Therapeutics,  pp,  36,  37. 


FS  YCHO-  THE  RAPE  UTICS.  1 5  5 

the  object  of  your  faith  be  real  or  false,  you  will  never- 
theless  obtain  the  same  effects.” 

This  brings  us  to  the  discussion  of  the  essential  mental 
condition  prerequisite  to  the  success  of  every  experiment 
in  psycho-therapeutics,  —  faith. 

That  faith  is  the  essential  prerequisite  to  the  successful 
exercise  of  psychic  power  is  a  proposition  which  has  re¬ 
ceived  the  sanction  of  the  concurrent  experience  of  all  the 
ages.  Christ  himself  did  not  hesitate  to  acknowledge  his 
inability  to  heal  the  sick  in  the  absence  of  that  condition 
precedent,  which  he  held  to  be  essential,  not  only  to  the 
enjoyment  of  the  blessings  which  he  so  freely  bestowed 
in  this  world,  but  to  the  attainment  of  eternal  life.  “  Oh, 
ye  of  little  faith,”  was  his  reproof  to  his  followers  when 
they  returned  to  him  and  announced  the  decrease  of  their 
powers  to  heal  the  sick ;  thus  proving  that  he  regarded 
faith  as  an  essential  element  of  success,  not  only  in  the 
patient,  but  in  the  healer  also. 

If  the  Great  Healer  thus  acknowledged  a  limitation  of  his 
powers,  how  can  we,  his  humble  followers,  hope  to  transcend 
the  immutable  law  by  which  he  was  governed  ? 

“  Why  is  it  that  our  belief  has  anything  to  do  with  the 
exercise  of  the  healing  pow^r?”  is  a  question  often  asked. 
To  this  the  obvious  and  only  reply  is  that  the  healing 
power,  being  a  mental,  or  psychic,  force,  is  necessarily  gov¬ 
erned  by  mental  conditions.  Just  why  faith  is  the  neces¬ 
sary  mental  attitude  of  the  patient  can  never  be  answered 
until  we  are  able  to  fathom  the  ultimate  cause  of  all  things. 
The  experience  of  all  the  ages  shows  it  to  be  a  fact,  and 
we  must  accept  it  as  such,  and  content  ourselves  with  an 
effort  to  ascertain  its  relations  to  other  facts,  and,  if  pos¬ 
sible,  to  define  its  limitations  and  ascertain  the  means  oi 
commanding  it  at  will. 

It  is  safe  to  say  that  the  statement  of  the  fact  under  con¬ 
sideration  has  done  more  to  retard  the  progress  of  the  sci¬ 
ence  of  psychic  healing  than  all  other  things  combined. 
The  sceptic  at  once  concludes  that,  whatever  good  the  sys¬ 
tem  may  do  to  credulous  people,  it  can  never  be  of  benefit 


156  THE  LA  IV  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 

to  him,  because  he  “  does  not  believe  in  such  things.” 
And  it  is  just  here  that  the  mistake  is  made,  —  a  mistake 
that  is  most  natural  in  the  present  state  of  psychic  knowl¬ 
edge,  and  one  that  is  all  but  universal.  It  consists  in  the 
assumption  that  the  faith  of  the  objective  mind  has  any¬ 
thing  to  do  with  the  requisite  mental  attitude.  The  reader 
is  again  requested  to  call  to  mind  the  fundamental  proposi¬ 
tions  of  the  hypothesis  under  discussion,  namely,  the  dual 
personality  and  the  power  of  suggestion. 

It  follows  from  the  propositions  of  our  hypothesis,  which 
need  not  be  here  repeated  at  length,  that  the  subjective 
mind  of  an  individual  is  as  amenable  to  control  by  the  sug¬ 
gestions  of  his  own  objective  mind  as  it  is  by  the  sugges¬ 
tions  of  another.  The  law  is  the  same.  It  follows  that, 
whatever  may  be  the  objective  belief  of  the  patient,  if  he  will 
assume  to  have  faith,  actively  or  passively,  the  subjective 
mind  will  be  controlled  by  the  suggestion,  and  the  desired 
result  will  follow. 

The  faith  required  for  therapeictic  purposes  is  a  purely 
subjective  faith,  and  is  attainable  upon  the  cessation  of  active 
opposition  on  the  part  of  the  objective  mind.  And  this  is 
why  it  is  that,  under  all  systems  of  mental  therapeutics,  the 
perfect  passivity  of  the  patient  is  insisted  upon  as  the  first 
essential  condition.  Of  course,  it  is  desirable  to  secure 
the  concurrent  faith  both  of  the  objective  and  subjective 
minds  j  but  it  is  not  essential,  if  the  patient  will  in  good 
faith  make  the  necessary  auto-suggestion,  as  above  men¬ 
tioned,  either  in  words,  or  by  submitting  passively  to  the 
suggestions  of  the  healer. 

It  is  foreign  to  the  purpose  of  this  book  to  discuss  at 
length  the  various  systems  of  mental  therapeutics  further 
than  is  necessary  for  the  elucidation  of  our  hypothesis. 
The  theories  upon  which  the  several  systems  are  founded 
will  not,  therefore,  be  commented  upon,  pro  or  con,  except 
where  they  furnish  striking  illustrations  of  the  principles 
herein  advanced. 

Christian  science,  so  called,  furnishes  a  very  striking 
example  of  the  principle  involved  in  the  proposition  that 


FS  YCHO-  THERAPE  UTICS. 


157 


the  requisite  subjective  faith  may  be  acquired  without  the 
concurrence  of  objective  belief,  and  even  in  defiance  of  ob¬ 
jective  reason.  That  system  is  based  upon  the  assumption 
that  matter  has  no  real  existence ;  consequently  we  have  no 
bodies,  and  hence  no  disease  of  the  body  is  possible.  It  is 
not  known  whether  the  worthy  lady  founder  of  the  school 
ever  stopped  to  reduce  her  foundation  principles  to  the 
form  of  a  syllogism.  It  is  presumed  not,  for  otherwise  their 
intense,  monumental,  and  aggressive  absurdity  would  have 
become  as  apparent  to  her  as  it  is  to  others.  Let  us  see 
how  they  look  in  the  form  of  a  syllogism  :  — 

Matter  has  no  existence.  Our  bodies  are  composed  of 
matter.  Therefore  our  bodies  have  no  existence. 

It  follows,  of  course,  that  disease  cannot  exist  in  a  non¬ 
existent  body. 

That  the  above  embraces  the  basis  of  the  system  called 
Christian  science  no  one  who  has  read  the  works  of  its 
founder  will  deny.  Of  course,  no  serious  argument  can  be 
adduced  against  such  a  self-evident  absurdity.  Neverthe¬ 
less,  there  are  two  facts  connected  with  this  system  which 
stand  out  in  bold  relief :  One  is  that  it  numbers  its  followers 
by  the  hundred  thousand ;  and  the  other  is  that  the  cures 
effected  by  its  practitioners  are  of  daily  occurrence  and  of 
the  most  marvellous  character. 

The  first  of  these  facts  demonstrates  the  trath  of  the  trite 
saying  that  any  system  of  belief,  if  earnestly  advocated,  will 
find  plenty  of  followers.  The  second  shows  in  the  most 
conclusive  manner  that  the  faith  of  the  objective  mind 
is  not  a  necessary  factor  in  the  cure  of  disease  by  psychic 
processes. 

It  seems  obvious  that  no  greater  demand  could  be 
made  upon  the  resources  of  our  credulity  than  to  tell  us 
that  all  that  is  visible  or  tangible  to  our  objective  senses 
has  no  real  existence.  And  yet  that  is  what  the  patient 
of  Christian  science  is  invited  to  believe  as  a  condition 
precedent  to  his  recovery.  Of  course  he  feels  at  first  that 
his  intelligence  is  insulted,  and  he  protests  against  such  a 
palpable  absurdity.  But  he  is  quieted  by  soothing  words, 


158  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


and  is  told  to  get  himself  into  a  perfectly  passive  con¬ 
dition,  to  say  nothing  and  to  think  of  nothing  for  the  time 
being.  In  some  cases  patients  are  advised  to  hold  them¬ 
selves  in  the  mental  attitude  of  denying  the  possible  exist¬ 
ence  of  disease.  The  essential  condition  of  passivity  being 
acquired  by  the  patient,  the  healer  also  becomes  passive, 
and  assumes  the  mental  attitude  of  denying  the  existence 
of  disease  in  the  patient, —  or  elsewhere,  for  that  matter, — 
and  affirms  with  constant  iteration  the  condition  of  perfect 
healthfulness.  After  a  stance  of  this  kind,  lasting  perhaps 
half-an-hour,  the  patient  almost  inevitably  finds  immense 
relief,  and  often  feels  himself  completely  restored  to  health. 
To  say  that  the  patient  is  surprised,  is  but  feebly  to  convey 
his  impressions ;  he  is  confounded.  The  healer  trium¬ 
phantly  asks,  “  What  do  you  think  of  my  theory  now?  ”  It 
is  of  little  use  for  him  to  reply  that  he  does  not  see  that  the 
theory  is  necessarily  correct  because  he  was  healed.  Most 
likely  he  fails  to  think  of  that,  in  his  gratitude  for  restored 
health.  But  if  he  does,  he  is  met  by  the  triumphant  re¬ 
sponse,  “  By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them.”  To  the 
average  mind,  untrained  to  habits  of  logical  reasoning,  that 
settles  the  question ;  and  Christian  science  has  scored  a 
triumph  and  secured  a  follower.  He  may  not  be  able  to 
see  quite  clearly  the  logical  sequences  involved,  he  may  be 
even  doubtful  whether  the  theory  is  necessarily  correct ; 
but  not  being  able  to  formulate  his  objections,  he  contents 
himself  with  the  thought  that  he  is  not  yet  far  enough  ad¬ 
vanced  in  “  science  ”  to  understand  that  which  seems  so 
clear  to  the  mind  of  his  teacher.  In  any  event,  he  ceases 
to  antagonize  the  theory  by  any  process  of  reasoning,  and 
eventually  believes,  objectively  as  well  as  subjectively,  in 
the  substantial  correctness  of  the  fundamental  theory.  In 
the  mean  time  it  is  easy  to  see  that  his  subjective  faith  has 
been  made  perfect  by  his  passivity  under  treatment,  and 
that  his  objective  faith  has  been  confirmed  by  his  restora¬ 
tion  to  health. 

In  all  systems  of  healing,  the  processes,  or  rather  the  con¬ 
ditions,  are  essentially  the  same,  the  first  essential  condition, 


PSYCHO-  THERA  PE  UTICS. 


159 


as  before  stated,  being  the  perfect  passivity  and  receptivity 
of  the  patient.  That  is  always  insisted  upon,  and  it  is  the 
essential  prerequisite,  be  the  theory  and  method  of  opera¬ 
tion  what  they  may.  The  rest  is  accomplished  by  sugges¬ 
tion.  Thus,  the  whole  science  of  mental  healing  may  be 
expressed  in  two  words,  —  passivity,  and  suggestion. 

By  passivity  the  patient  becomes  receptive  of  subjective 
impressions.  He  becomes  partially  hypnotic,  and  some¬ 
times  wholly  so.  The  more  perfectly  he  is  hypnotized,  the 
surer  the  favorable  result.  But,  in  any  case,  perfect  passivity 
is  sure  to  bring  about  a  good  result.  In  the  Christian  sci¬ 
ence  methods  the  healer  also  becomes  passive,  and  partially 
self-hypnotized.  And  this  constitutes  the  difference  be¬ 
tween  individual  healers  by  that  method.  The  more  easily 
the  healer  can  hypnotize  himself,  and  the  more  perfect  that 
condition,  the  more  powerful  will  be  the  effect  on  the  pa¬ 
tient.  The  reason  is  this  :  the  suggestions  to  the  subjective 
mind  of  the  patient  are  conveyed  telepathically  from  the 
subjective  mind  of  the  healer.  In  order  to  produce  that 
effect  in  perfection,  it  becomes  necessary  both  for  patient 
and  healer  to  be  in  a  partially  hypnotic  condition.  The 
two  subjective  minds  are  then  en  7-apport.  The  subjective 
mind  of  the  healer,  being  properly  instructed  beforehand, 
then  conveys  the  necessary  suggestions  to  the  subjective 
mind  of  the  patient.  The  latter,  being  necessarily  con¬ 
trolled  by  such  suggestion,  exercises  its  functions  in  ac¬ 
cordance  therewith ;  and  having  absolute  control  of  the 
sensations,  functions,  and  conditions  of  the  body,  it  exer¬ 
cises  that  control ;  and  the  result  is  that  pain  is  relieved, 
and  the  normal  condition  of  health  is  restored. 

It  is  not,  however,  always  necessary  that  either  the  pa¬ 
tient  or  the  healer  should  become  even  partially  hypnotized, 
provided  the  requisite  faith  or  confidence  is  established  in 
the  subjective  mind  of  the  patient.  In  such  a  case,  how¬ 
ever,  it  requires  a  concurrence  both  of  objective  and  sub¬ 
jective  faith  to  produce  the  best  results. 

It  has  been  claimed  by  some  mental  healers  that  faith  on 
the  part  of  the  patient  is  not  an  essential  prerequisite  to 


l6o  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 

successful  healing.  Doubtless  some  of  the  more  ignorant 
ones  believe  that  statement.  But  an  observation  of  the 
methods  of  treatment  employed  by  some  who  make  this 
claim  leads  one  to  suppose  that  the  statement  often  made 
to  their  patients  that  faith  is  unnecessary  is  rather  a  cunning 
evasion  of  the  truth  for  the  very  purpose  of  inspiring  faith. 
Thus,  a  patient  enters  the  sanctum  of  a  mental  healer,  and 
begins  by  saying,  “  I  understand  that  it  is  necessary  that 
your  patients  have  faith  before  they  can  be  healed.  If  that 
is  the  case,  I  never  can  be  healed  by  mental  treatment,  for 
I  am  utterly  sceptical  on  the  subject.”  To  which  the  ready 
reply  is,  “  Faith  is  unnecessary  under  my  system.  I  do  not 
care  what  you  believe,  for  I  can  heal  you,  however  sceptical 
you  may  be.”  This  is  generally  satisfactory  to  the  sceptic. 
He  brightens  with  hope,  and  submits  to  the  treatment,  full 
of  the  faith  that  he  is  to  be  healed  without  faith.  It  is 
superfluous  to  add  that  by  this  stroke  of  policy  the  healer 
has  inspired  the  patient  with  all  the  faith  required,  namely, 
the  faith  of  his  subjective  mind.  I  will  not  animadvert 
upon  the  propriety  of  this  course,  though  I  cannot  help  but 
contrast  it  with  that  of  the  Great  Healer,  who  never  de¬ 
scended  to  falsehood,  even  to  the  end  that  good  might  come. 
He  always  told  his  followers  frankly  that  faith  was  essential ; 
and  his  words  are  as  true  to-day  as  they  were  when  he  pro¬ 
claimed  to  mankind  that  great  secret  of  occult  power.  Jesus 
was  the  first  to  proclaim  the  great  law  of  faith ;  and  when 
he  uttered  that  one  word,  he  epitomized  the  whole  science 
of  psycho-therapeutics. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

PSYCHO-THERAPEUTICS  {continued). 

Methods  classified  in  Two  Divisions.  —  Mental  and  Oral  Suggestions. 

—  Absent  Treatment.  ■ — Christian  Scientists  handicapped  by  Ab¬ 
surd  Theories. —  They  claim  too  much.  —  The  Use  of  Drug.s. — ■ 
Dangers  arising  from  too  Radical  Change.  —  Importance  of  Favor¬ 
able  Mental  Environment.  —  Mental  Healing  requires  Mental 
Conditions.  —  Treatment  by  Hypnotism  — Bernheim’s  Methods. — 
Illustrative  Cases. — The  Practical  Value  of  the  System.  —  The 
Illogical  Limitations  of  the  Theory. —  Potency  of  Telepathic  Sug¬ 
gestion.  —  Researches  of  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research.  —  Mr. 
Gurney’s  Experiments. — They  demonstrate  the  Theory  of  Effluent 
Emanations.  —  Diagnosis  by  Intuition. —  Potency  of  Mesmerism. 

—  Permanency  of  Cures.  —  Conditions  necessary. — The  Example 
of  Jesus.  —  Self-healing  by  Auto-suggestion. 

'T'HE  science  of  mental  therapeutics  may  be  classed  in 
*  two  general  divisions,  which  are  distinguished  by  the 
different  methods  of  operation.  The  same  general  prin¬ 
ciple  underlies  both,  but  the  results  are  attained  by  different 
modes  of  procedure. 

The  first  method  is  by  passivity  on  the  part  of  the  patient, 
and  mental  suggestion  by  the  healer. 

The  second  is  by  passivity  on  the  part  of  the  patient,  and 
oral  suggestion  by  the  healer. 

In  ordinary  practice  both  methods  are  used ;  that  is  to 
say,  the  oral  suggestionist  often  unconsciously  telepaths  a 
mental  suggestion  to  the  subjective  mind  of  the  patient. 
If  he  thoroughly  believes  the  truth  of  his  own  suggestions, 
rtie  telepathic  effect  is  sure  to  follow,  and  always  to  the 
manifest  advantage  of  the  patient.  This  is  why  it  is  that  in 
all  works  on  hypnotism  and  mesmerism  the  value  and  im 

II 


1 62  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


portance  of  self-confidence  on  the  part  of  the  healer,  or,  in 
other  words,  belief  in  his  own  suggestions,  is  so  strenuously- 
insisted  upon.  Practice  and  experience  have  demonstrated 
the  fact,  but  no  writer  on  the  subject  attempts  to  give  a 
scientific  explanation  of  it.  But  when  it  is  known  that  tele¬ 
pathy  is  the  normal  method  of  communication  between 
subjective  minds,  and  that  in  healing  by  mental  processes  it 
is  constantly  employed,  consciously  or  unconsciously  to  the 
persons,  the  explanation  is  obvious. 

Again,  where  mental  suggestion  is  chiefly  relied  upon, 
the  healer  usually  begins  operations  by  making  oral  sugges¬ 
tions.  Thus,  the  Christian  scientist  begins  by  carefully 
educating  his  patient  in  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  the 
school,  and  explaining  the  effects  which  are  expected  to 
follow  the  treatment.  The  mind  is  thus  prepared  by  oral 
suggestions  to  receive  the  necessary  mental  impressions 
w'hen  the  treatment  proper  begins.  The  most  effective 
method  of  healing  employed  by  that  school  consists  in  what 
it  denominates  “  absent  treatment.”  This  is  effected  by 
purely  telepathic  means.  The  patient  is  absent,  and  often 
knows  nothing,  objectively,  of  what  is  being  done  for  him. 
The  healer  sits  alone  and  becomes  passive ;  or,  in  other 
words,  becomes  partially  self-hypnotized,  and  addresses  the 
patient  mentally,  and  proceeds  to  argue  the  question  with 
him.  The  condition  of  health  is  strongly  asserted  and  in¬ 
sisted  upon,  and  the  possibility  of  disease  as  strenuously 
denied.  The  advantages  of  this  means  of  treatment  are 
obvious.  The  telepathic  suggestions  are  made  solely  to  the 
subjective  mind  of  the  patient,  and  do  not  rise  above 
the  threshold  of  his  consciousness.  The  subjective  mind, 
being  constantly  amenable  to  control  by  the  power  of 
suggestion,  accepts  the  suggestions  offered,  and,  having  in 
its  turn  perfect  control  of  the  functions  and  conditions  of 
the  body,  it  proceeds  to  re-establish  the  condition  of  health. 
In  other  words,  it  abandons  the  abnormal  idea  of  disease  ; 
and,  in  obedience  to  the  telepathic  suggestions  of  th5 
healer,  it  seizes  upon  the  normal  idea  of  health.  It  will 
readily  be  seen  that  by  this  method  of  treatment  the  patient 


PS  YC HO-  THERA  PE  UTICS. 


163 


rs  placed  in  the  best  possible  condition  for  the  reception 
of  healthful  suggestions.  He  is  necessarily  in  a  passive 
condition.  That  is,  being  unconscious,  objectively,  of  the 
mental  suggestions  which  are  being  made  to  his  subjective 
mind,  he  is  not  handicapped  by  antagonistic  auto-sugges¬ 
tions  arising  from  objective  doubt  of  the  power  of  the 
healer,  or  of  the  correctness  of  his  theories.  The  latter  is 
the  most  serious  obstacle  which  the  Christian  scientist  has 
to  contend  with  ;  and  it  is  safe  to  say  that  if  his  school 
had  not  been  handicapped  by  a  theory  which  shocks  the 
common-sense  of  the  average  man,  its  sphere  of  usefulness 
would  have  been  much  larger  than  it  is  now.  The  school 
is  doing  a  great  and  noble  work  as  it  is,  but  it  is  chiefly 
among  those  who  are  credulous  enough  to  disbelieve  the 
evidence  of  their  own  senses.  There  is,  however,  a  large 
and  growing  class  of  people,  calling  themselves  Christian 
scientists,  who  ignore  the  fundamental  absurdities  of  the 
theory  of  the  founder  of  the  sect,  and  content  themselves 
with  the  knowledge  that  the  practice  produces  good  results. 
Each  one  of  these  formulates  a  theory  of  his  own,  and  each 
one  finds  that,  measured  by  the  standard  of  results,  his 
theory  is  correct.  The  obvious  conclusion  is  that  one 
theory  is  as  good  as  another,  provided  always  that  the 
mode  of  operation  under  it  does  not  depart,  in  any  essen¬ 
tial  particular,  from  the  standard,  and  that  the  operator  has 
the  requisite  faith  in  his  own  theory  and  practice. 

Another  circumstance  which  handicaps  the  enthusiastic 
votaries  of  each  of  the  schools  consists  in  the  tendency  of 
all  reformers  to  claim  too  much  for  their  systems.  Forget¬ 
ting  that  they  have  to  deal  with  a  generation  of  people 
with  a  hereditary  belief  in  the  power  of  medicines  to  cure 
disease,  a  people  whose  habits  of  life  and  thought  are  mate¬ 
rialistic  to  tlie  last  degree,  they  expect  to  change  that  belief 
instantaneously,  and  cause  the  new  method  to  take  the 
place  of  the  old  in  all  cases  and  under  all  circumstances. 
In  other  words,  they  expect  to  cure  all  diseases  by  mental 
methods  alone,  and  they  seek  to  prohibit  their  patients 
from  employing  any  other  physician  or  using  any  medicines 


1 64  law  of  psychic  phenomena. 

whatever.  This  is  wrong  in  theory  and  often  dangerous  in 
practice.  It  may  be  true,  and  doubtless  is,  that  one  great 
source  of  the  power  of  drugs  to  heal  disease  is  attributable 
to  the  mental  impression  created  upon  the  mind  of  the 
patient  at  the  time  the  drug  is  administered.  This  being 
true,  it  follows  that  when  a  patient  believes  in  drugs,  drugs 
should  be  administered.  If  Christian  science  or  any  other 
mental  method  of  healing  can  then  be  made  available  as 
an  auxiliary,  it  should  be  employed.  But  this  is  just  what 
the  ultra-reformers  refuse  to  do.  They  insist  upon  the 
discharge  of  the  family  physician,  and  the  destruction  of 
all  the  medicines  in  the  house,  before  they  will  undertake 
to  effect  a  cure  by  mental  processes.  It  frequently  happens 
that  the  patient  is  not  sufficiently  well  grounded  in  the  new 
faith,  or  is  afflicted  with  some  disease  not  readily  reached 
by  mental  processes,  and  dies  on  their  hands,  when  per¬ 
haps  he  might  have  been  saved  by  the  combined  efforts  of 
the  family  doctor  and  the  Christian  scientist.  Be  that  as  it 
may,  when  the  patient  dies  under  such  circumstances,  the 
Christian  scientist  must  needs  bear  the  brunt  of  popular 
condemnation.  It  goes  without  saying  that  one  such  case 
does  more  to  retard  the  progress  of  mental  therapeutics  in 
popular  estimation  than  a  thousand  miraculous  cures  can  do 
to  promote  it.  Again,  much  harm  is  done  to  the  cause  of 
mental  healing  by  claiming  for  it  too  wide  a  field  of  useful¬ 
ness.  Theoretically,  all  the  diseases  which  flesh  is  heir  to 
are  curable  by  mental  processes.  Practically,  the  range  of 
its  usefulness  is  comparatively  limited.  The  lines  of  its 
field  are  not  clearly  defined,  however,  for  the  reason  that  so 
much  depends  on  the  idiosyncrasies  of  each  individual 
patient.  A  disease  which  can  be  cured  in  one  case  refuses 
to  yield  in  another,  the  mental  attitudes  of  the  patients  not 
being  the  same.  Besides,  the  mental  environment  of  the 
patient  has  much  to  do  with  his  amenability  to  control  by 
mental  processes.  In  an  atmosphere  of  incredulity,  doubt, 
and  prejudice,  a  patient  stands  little  chance  of  being  bene¬ 
fited,  however  strong  may  be  his  own  faith  in  mental  thera¬ 
peutics.  Every  doubt  existing  in  the  minds  of  those 


rSYCHO-THERAPEUTlCS.  1 65 

surrounding  him  is  inevitably  conveyed  telepathically  to  his 
subjective  mind,  and  operates  as  an  adverse  suggestion  of 
irresistible  potentiality.  It  requires  a  very  strong  will,  per¬ 
fect  faith,  and  constant  affirmative  auto-suggestion  on  the 
part  of  the  patient  to  overcome  the  adverse  influence  of  an 
environment  of  incredulity  and  doubt,  even  though  no  word 
of  that  doubt  is  expressed  in  presence  of  the  patient.  It 
goes  without  saying  that  it  is  next  to  impossible  for  a  sick 
person  to  possess  the  necessary  mental  force  to  overcome 
such  adverse  conditions.  Obviously,  the  mental  healer 
who  undertakes  a  case  under  such  circumstances,  procures 
the  discharge  of  the  family  physician,  and  prohibits  the 
patient  from  using  medicines,  assumes  a  very  grave  respon¬ 
sibility,  and  does  so  at  the  risk  of  the  patient’s  life  and  his 
own  reputation. 

Success  in  mental  healing  depends  upon  proper  mental 
conditions,  just  as  success  in  healing  by  physical  agencies 
depends  upon  proper  physical  conditions.  This  is  a  self- 
evident  proposition,  which  the  average  mental  healer  is  slow 
to  understand  and  appreciate. 

The  success  of  the  physician  depends  as  largely  upon  his 
knowledge  of  the  idiosyncrasies  of  his  patient,  his  personal 
habits,  his  mode  of  living,  his  susceptibility  to  the  influence 
of  medicines,  etc.,  as  upon  a  correct  diagnosis  and  medi¬ 
cinal  treatment  of  the  disease.  In  like  manner  the  success 
of  the  mental  healer  depends  largely  upon  his  knowledge 
of  his  patient’s  habits  of  thought,  his  beliefs,  his  prejudices, 
and,  above  all,  his  mental  environment. 

These  remarks  apply  to  all  methods  of  mental  healing  ; 
and,  for  the  purposes  of  this  book,  Christian  science  may 
be  taken  as  a  representative  of  all  systems  of  healing  by 
mental  suggestion,  as  distinguished  from  oral  suggestion. 

Hypnotism,  as  practised  by  the  Nancy  school,  may 
stand  as  the  representative  of  mental  treatment  of  disease 
by  purely  oral  suggestion.  The  following  extract  from 
Professor  Bernheim’s  able  work  on  “  Suggestive  Thera¬ 
peutics  ”  (chapter  i.)  embraces  the  essential  features  ol 
the  methods  of  inducing  sleep  practised  by  that  school : 


1 66  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


“  I  begin  by  saying  to  the  patient  that  I  believe  benefit  is 
to  be  derived  from  the  use  of  suggestive  therapeutics ;  that  it 
is  possible  to  cure  or  to  relieve  him  by  hypnotism;  that  there  is 
nothing  either  hurtful  or  strange  about  it;  that  it  is  an  ordinary 
sleep,  or  torpor,  which  can  be  induced  in  every  one,  and  that 
this  quiet,  beneficial  condition  restores  the  equilibrium  of  the 
viervous  system,  etc.  If  necessary,  I  hypnotize  one  or  two  sub¬ 
jects  in  his  presence,  in  order  to  show  him  that  there  is  nothing 
painful  in  this  condition,  and  that  it  is  not  accompanied  with 
any  unusal  sensation.  When  I  have  thus  banished  from  his 
mind  the  idea  of  magnetism  and  the  somewhat  mysterious  fear 
that  attaches  to  that  unknown  condition,  above  all  when  he  has 
seen  patients  cured  or  benefited  by  the  means  in  question,  he  is 
no  longer  suspicious,  but  gives  himself  up.  Then  I  say,  ‘  Look 
at  me,  and  think  of  nothing  but  sleep.  Your  eyelids  begin  to 
feel  heavy,  your  eyes  tired.  They  begin  to  wink,  they  are  get¬ 
ting  moist,  you  cannot  see  distinctly.  They  are  closed.’  Some 
patients  close  their  eyes  and  are  asleep  immediately.  With 
others,  I  have  to  repeat,  lay  more  stress  on  what  I  say,  and 
even  make  gestures.  It  makes  little  difference  what  sort  of 
gesture  is  made.  I  hold  two  fingers  of  my  right  hand  before 
the  patient’s  eyes  and  ask  him  to  look  at  them,  or  pass  both 
hands  several  times  before  his  eyes,  or  persuade  him  to  fix  his 
eyes  upon  mine,  endeavoring,  at  the  same  time,  to  concentrate 
his  attention  upon  the  idea  of  sleep.  I  say,  ‘Your  lids  are 
closing,  you  cannot  open  them  again.  Your  arms  feel  heavy, 
so  do  your  legs.  You  cannot  feel  anything.  Your  hands  are 
motionless.  You  see  nothing,  you  are  going  to  sleep.’  And  I 
add,  in  a  commanding  tone,  ‘  Sleep.’  This  word  often  turns 
the  balance.  The  eyes  close,  and  the  patient  sleeps,  or  is  at 
least  influenced.  I  use  the  word  ‘  sleep,’  in  order  to  obtain  as 
far  as  possible  over  the  patients  a  suggestive  influence  which 
shall  bring  about  sleep,  or  a  state  closely  approaching  it ;  for 
sleep,  properly  so  called,  does  not  always  occur.  If  the  patients 
have  no  inclination  to  sleep,  and  show  no  drowsiness,  I  take 
care  to  say  that  sleep  is  not  essential ;  that  the  hypnotic  influ¬ 
ence,  whence  comes  the  benefit,  may  exist  without  sleep ;  that 
many  patients  are  hypnotized,  although  they  do  not  sleep. 

“If  the  patient  does  not  shut  his  eyes  cr  keep  them  shut,  I 
do  not  require  them  to  be  fixed  on  mine,  oi  on  my  fingers,  for 
any  length  of  time,  for  it  sometimes  happens  that  they  remain 
wide  open  indefinitely,  and  instead  of  the  idea  of  sleep  being 
conceived,  only  a  rigid  fixation  of  the  eyes  results.  In  this  case, 
closure  of  the  eyes  by  the  operator  succeeds  better.  After 


rs  YCHO-  THERATE  UTICS. 


167 

keeping  them  fixed  one  or  two  minutes,  I  push  the  eyelids 
down,  or  stretch  them  slowly  over  the  eyes,  gradually  closing 
them  more  and  more,  and  so  imitating  the  process  of  natural 
sleep.  Finally,  I  keep  them  closed,  repeating  the  suggestion, 
‘  Your  lids  are  stuck  together,  you  cannot  open  them.  The 
need  of  sleep  becomes  greater  and  greater,  you  can  no  longer 
resist.’  I  lower  my  voice  gradually,  repeating  the  command, 
‘  Sleep,’  and  it  is  very  seldom  that  more  than  three  minutes 
pass  before  sleep  or  some  degree  of  hypnotic  influence  is 
obtained.  It  is  sleep  by  suggestion,  —  a  type  of  sleep  which 
I  insinuate  into  the  brain. 

“  Passes  or  gazing  at  the  eyes  or  fingers  of  the  operator  are 
only  useful  in  concentrating  the  attention;  they  are  not  abso 
lutely  essential. 

“  As  soon  as  they  are  able  to  pay  attention  and  understand, 
children  are,  as  a  rule,  very  quickly  and  very  easily  hypnotized. 
It  often  suffices  to  close  their  eyes,  to  hold  them  shut  a  few 
moments,  to  tell  them  to  sleep,  and  then  to  state  that  they 
are  asleep. 

“  Some  adults  go  to  sleep  just  as  readily  by  simple  closure  of 
the  eyes.  I  often  proceed  immediately,  without  making  use  of 
passes  or  fixation,  by  shutting  the  eyelids,  gently  holding  them 
closed,  asking  the  patient  to  keep  them  together,  and  suggesting 
at  the  same  time  the  phenomena  of  sleep.  Some  of  them  fall 
rapidly  into  a  more  or  less  deep  sleep.  Others  offer  more 
resistance.  I  sometimes  succeed  by  keeping  the  eyes  closed  for 
some  time,  commanding  silence  and  quiet,  talking  continuously, 
and  repeating  the  same  formulas :  ‘You  feel  a  sort  of  drowsi¬ 
ness,  a  torpor ;  your  arms  and  legs  are  motionless.  Your  eye¬ 
lids  are  warm.  Your  nervous  system  is  quiet;  you  have  no 
will.  Your  eyes  remain  closed.  Sleep  is  coming.’  etc.  After 
keeping  up  this  auditory  suggestion  for  several  minutes,  I 
remove  my  fingers.  The  eyes  remain  closed.  I  raise  the 
patient’s  arms;  they  remain  uplifted.  We  have  induced 
cataleptic  sleep.” 

Having  succeeded  in  inducing  sleep,  or  getting  the  pa¬ 
tient  in  a  passive  and  receptive  condition,  the  operator 
then  proceeds  to  suggest  the  idea  of  recovery  from  the 
disease  with  which  he  is  afflicted.  On  this  subject  the 
author  speaks  as  follows  :  — 

“  The  patietit  is  put  to  sleep  by  means  of  suggestion ;  that  is, 
by  making  the  idea  of  sleep  penetrate  the  mind.  He  is  treated 


1 68  THE  LAJV  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


by  vicans  of  suggestion  j  that  is,  by  making  the  idea  of  cure 
penetrate  the  mind.  The  subject  being  hypnotized,  M.  Lid- 
bault’s  method  consists  in  affirming  m  a  loud  voice  the  disap¬ 
pearance  of  his  syfuptoms. 

“We  try  to  make  him  believe  that  these  symptoms  no  longer 
exist,  or  that  they  will  disappear,  the  pain  will  vanish ;  that  the 
feeling  will  come  back  to  his  limbs  ;  that  the  muscular  strength 
will  increase ;  and  that  his  appetite  will  come  back.  We  profit  by 
the  special  psychical  receptivity  created  by  the  hypnosis,  by  the 
cerebral  docility,  by  the  exalted  ideo-motor,  ideo-sensitive,  ideo- 
sensorial  reflex  activity,  in  order  to  provoke  useful  reflexes,  to 
persuade  the  brain  to  do  what  it  can  to  transform  the  accepted 
idea  into  reality. 

“  Such  is  the  method  of  therapeutic-suggestion  of  which 
M.  Li^bault  is  the  founder.  He  was  the  first  clearly  to  estab¬ 
lish  that  the  cures  obtained  by  the  old  magnetizers,  and  even 
by  Braid’s  hypnotic  operations,  are  not  the  work  either  of  a 
mysterious  fluid  or  of  physiological  modifications  due  to  special 
manipulations,  but  the  work  of  suggestion  alone.  The  whole 
system  of  magnetic  medicine  is  only  the  medicine  of  the  imagi¬ 
nation  ;  the  imagination  is  put  into  such  a  condition  by  the 
hypnosis  that  it  cannot  escape  from  the  suggestion. 

“  M.  Li^bault’s  method  was  ignored  a  long  time,  even  by  the 
physicians  at  Nancy.  In  1884  Charles  Richet  was  satisfied  to 
say  that  magnetism  often  has  advantages,  that  it  calms  nervous 
agitation,  and  that  it  may  cure  or  benefit  certain  insomnias. 

“  Since  1882  I  have  experimented  with  the  suggestive  method 
which  I  have  seen  used  by  M.  Li^bault,  though  timidly  at  first, 
and  without  any  confidence.  To-day  it  is  daily  used  in  my 
clinic;  I  practise  it  before  my  students  ;  perhaps  no  day  passes 
in  which  I  do  not  show  them  some  functional  trouble,  pain, 
paresis,  uneasiness,  insomnia,  either  moderated  or  instantly 
suppressed  by  suggestion. 

“For  example:  a  child  is  brought  to  me  with  a  pain  like 
muscular  rheumatism  in  its  arm,  dating  back  four  or  five  days. 
The  arm  is  painful  to  pressure;  the  child  cannot  lift  it  to  its 
head.  I  say  to  him,  ‘  Shut  your  eyes,  my  child,  and  go  to  sleep.’ 

I  hold  his  eyelids  closed,  and  go  on  talking  to  him.  ‘  You  are 
asleep,  and  you  will  keep  on  sleeping  until  I  tell  you  to  wake 
up.  You  are  sleeping  very  well,  as  if  you  were  in  your  bed. 
You  are  perfectly  well  and  comfortable ;  your  arms  and  legs  and 
your  whole  body  are  asleep,  and  you  cannot  move.’  I  take  my 
fingers  off  his  eyelids,  and  they  remain  closed ;  I  put  his  arms 
up,  and  they  remain  so.  Then,  touching  the  painful  arm,  I  say. 


rs  YCHO-  THERA  PE  UTICS. 


169 

‘The  pain  has  gone  away.  You  have  no  more  pain  anywhere; 
you  can  move  your  arm  without  any  pain ;  and  when  you  wake 
up  you  will  not  feel  any  more  pain.  It  will  not  come  back  any 
more.’  In  order  to  increase  the  force  of  the  suggestion  by  em¬ 
bodying  it,  so  to  speak,  in  a  material  sensation,  following 
M.  Lidbault’s  example  I  suggest  a  feeling  of  warmth  loco 
dole7ite.  The  heat  takes  the  place  of  the  pain.  I  say  to  the 
child,  ‘You  feel  that  your  arm  is  warm;  the  warmth  increases, 
and  you  have  no  more  pain.' 

“  I  wake  the  child  in  a  few  minutes ;  he  remembers  nothing ; 
the  sleep  has  been  profound.  The  pain  has  almost  completely 
disappeared  ;  the  child  lifts  the  arm  easily  to  his  head.  I  see 
the  father  on  the  days  following :  he  is  the  postman  who  brings 
my  letters.  He  tells  me  that  the  pain  has  disappeared  com¬ 
pletely,  and  there  has  been  no  return  of  it. 

“  Here,  again,  is  a  man  twenty-six  years  old,  a  workman  in 
the  foundries.  For  a  year  he  has  experienced  a  painful  feeling 
of  constriction  over  the  epigastrium,  also  a  pain  in  the  corre¬ 
sponding  region  of  the  back,  which  was  the  result  of  an  effort 
made  in  bending  an  iron  bar.  The  sensation  is  continuous,  and 
increases  when  he  has  worked  for  some  hours.  For  six  months 
he  has  been  able  to  sleep  only  by  pressing  his  epigastrium  with 
his  hand.  I  hypnotize  him.  In  the  first  seance  I  can  induce 
only  simple  drowsiness ;  he  wakes  spontaneously ;  the  pain 
continues.  I  hypnotize  him  a  second  time,  telling  him  that  he 
will  sleep  more  deeply,  and  that  he  will  remember  nothing  when  he 
wakes.  Catalepsy  is  not  present.  I  wake  him  in  a  few  minutes ; 
he  does  not  remember  that  I  spoke  to  him,  that  I  assured  him 
that  the  pain  had  disappeared.  It  has  completely  disappeared  ; 
he  no  longer  feels  any  constriction.  I  do  not  know  whether  it 
has  reappeared.”  ^ 

The  foregoing  extracts  present  the  gist  of  the  methods 
employed  by  the  Nancy  school  of  hypnotism.  The  hypnotic 
condition  is  induced  solely  by  pral  suggestion,  and  the 
disease  is  removed  by  the  same  means.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  of  the  efficacy  of  the  method,  thousands  of  successful 
experiments  having  been  made  by  the  author  and  his  col¬ 
leagues.  These  experiments  have  demonstrated  the  exist¬ 
ence  of  a  power  in  man  to  control  by  purely  mental 
processes,  —  the  functions  and  conditions  of  the  human 


1  Suggestive  Therapeutics,  p.  206. 


170  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


body.  They  have  thus  laid  the  foundation  of  a  system  of 
mental  therapeutics  which  must  eventually  prove  of  great 
value  to  mankind.  But  they  have  done  more.  They  have 
demonstrated  a  principle  which  reaches  out  far  beyond  the 
realm  of  therapeutics,  and  covers  all  the  vast  field  of  psy¬ 
chological  research.  They  have  demonstrated  the  constant 
amenability  of  the  subjective  mind  to  control  by  the  power 
of  suggestion.  It  is  not  surprising  that  those  who  have 
discovered  this  great  principle  should  insist  upon  its  appli¬ 
cability  to  every  phenomenon  within  the  range  of  their 
investigations ;  but  it  is  strange  that  they  should  fail  to 
recognize  a  co-ordinate  power  governed  by  the  same  law, 
within  the  same  field  of  operations.  Yet  this  is  true  of  the 
modern  scientific  school  of  hypnotism  to-day.  The  Nancy 
school  believes  in  the  power  of  suggestion,  but  confines  its 
faith  to  oral  suggestion.  Having  demonstrated  that  oral 
suggestion  is  efficacious  in  the  production  of  psychic  phe¬ 
nomena,  they  hold  that  mental  suggestion  has  no  power 
in  the  same  direction.  Having  demonstrated  that  certain 
phenomena  can  be  induced  independently  of  any  so-called 
fluidic  emanation  or  effluence  from  the  hypnotist,  they  hold 
that  no  fluidic  emanation  is  possible.  These  conclusions 
are  not  only  illogical,  they  are  demonstrably  incorrect.  The 
Christian  scientists  are  constantly  demonstrating  the  potency 
of  purely  telepathic  suggestion  by  what  they  denominate 
“  absent  treatment ;  ”  /.  e.,  treatment  of  sick  persons  with¬ 
out  the  knowledge  of  the  patients.  That  there  is  a  power 
emanating  from  the  operator  who  hypnotizes  by  means  of 
mesmeric  passes,  seems  to  be  very  well  authenticated  by 
the  experiments  recorded  by  the  old  mesmerists.  It  must 
be  admitted,  however,  that  many  of  their  experiments  do 
not  conclusively  prove  anything,  for  the  reason  that  they 
v/ere  made  before  suggestion  as  a  constant  factor  in  hyp¬ 
notism  had  been  demonstrated.  Recent  experiments  by 
members  of  the  London  Society  for  Psychical  Research 
have,  however,  now  placed  that  question  beyond  a  doubt. 
Their  methods  of  investigation  are  purely  scientific,  and 
were  made  with  a  full  knowledge  and  appreciation  of  the 


PSYCHO-THERAPEUTICS.  lyi 

principle  of  suggestion,  and  of  the  distinction  between 
mesmerism  and  hypnotism. 

In  an  account  of  some  experiments  in  mesmerism,  writ¬ 
ten  by  Mr.  Edmund  Gurney,  and  recorded  in  vol.  ii. 
pp.  201-205,  of  the  Proceedings  of  the  Society  referred 
to,  a  very  interesting  experiment  is  mentioned,  which  de¬ 
monstrates  the  fact  that  there  is  an  effluence  emanating 
from  the  mesmerizer  which  is  capable  of  producing  very 
marked  physical  effects  upon  the  subject.  In  this  case  the 
subject  was  blindfolded  and  allowed  to  remain  in  his  normal 
condition  during  the  whole  of  the  experiment.  His  hands 
were  then  spread  out  upon  a  table  before  him,  his  fingers 
wide  apart.  The  mesmerizer  then  made  passes  over  one  of 
the  fingers,  taking  care  not  to  move  his  hand  near  enough 
to  the  subject’s  finger  to  cause  a  perceptible  movement  of 
the  atmosphere,  or  to  give  any  indication  in  any  other  way 
which  finger  was  being  mesmerized.  The  result  was,  in 
every  instance,  the  production  of  local  anaesthesia  in  the 
finger  operated  upon,  and  in  no  other. 

Oral  suggestion,  or  any  other  form  of  physical  suggestion, 
was  here  out  of  the  question  ;  and  telepathic  suggestion  was 
extremely  improbable,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  subject 
was  in  his  normal  condition,  and  consequently  not  in  sub¬ 
jective  rapport  with  the  operator.  A  further  experiment 
was  then  tried,  with  a  view  of  ascertaining  whether  it  was 
necessary  for  the  mesmerist  to  know  which  finger  he  was 
operating  upon.  To  that  end,  the  operator’s  hand  was 
guided  by  the  hand  of  a  third  party  while  the  passes  were 
being  made  ;  and  it  was  found  that  the  selected  finger  was 
unaffected,  when  the  operator  did  not  know  which  one 
it  was. 

The  first  of  these  experiments  demonstrates  the  fact  that 
there  is  an  effluence  emanating  from  the  mesmerist ;  and 
the  second  demonstrates  the  fact  that  this  effluence  is 
directed  by  his  will. 

What  this  effluence  is,  man  may  never  know.  That  it  is 
a  vital  fact  in  psychic  phenomena  is  certain.  Like  many 
other  subtle  forces  of  nature,  it  defies  analysis.  That  it 


172 


THE  LA  IV  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


exists,  and  that  under  certain  conditions  not  yet  very  clearly 
defined  it  can  be  controlled  by  the  conscious  intelligence 
of  man,  is  as  certain  as  the  existence  of  electricity.  Its 
source  is  undoubtedly  the  subjective  mind,  and  it  is  identical 
with  that  force  which,  under  other  conditions,  reappears  ir 
the  form  of  so-called  spirit-rappings,  table-tipping,  etc. 

Space  will  not  permit  the  reproduction  of  further  account 
of  the  experiments  of  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research 
and  the  reader  is  referred  to  their  Proceedings  for  fullej 
information.  It  must  suffice  to  say  that  the  experiments 
referred  to  are  completely  demonstrative,  not  only  of  the 
fact  that  an  effluence  does  emanate  from  the  mesmeric 
operator,  but  that  under  mesmeric  conditions  telepathic 
suggestion  is  as  potent  as  are  the  oral  suggestions  of  the 
hypnotists. 

These  facts  are  beginning  to  be  recognized  even  by  the 
scientists  of  Europe,  thanks  to  the  carefully  conducted  ex¬ 
periments  of  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research.  Professor 
Lie'bault  himself,  the  discoverer  of  the  law  of  suggestion, 
now  freely  admits  the  fact  that  a  specific  influence  is  some¬ 
times  exerted  by  the  mesmerizer  upon  his  subject,  which  does 
not  arise  from  oral  suggestion.  In  fact,  this  doctrine  must 
soon  be,  if  it  is  not  now,  one  of  the  recognized  principles  of 
psychic  science. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  healing  by  mesmerism  is  a  pro¬ 
cess  clearly  distinct  from  healing  by  hypnotism.  The  latter 
depends  for  its  effects  wholly  upon  oral  suggestion  and  the 
unaided  power  of  the  subjective  mind  of  the  patient  over 
the  functions  and  conditions  of  his  body  •,  whereas  the  mes¬ 
meric  healer  exerts  a  positive  force  of  great  potentiality  upon 
the  body  of  the  patient,  filling  it  with  vitality,  in  addition  to 
the  oral  suggestion  of  the  hypnotist.  Not  only  so,  but  when 
purely  mesmeric  methods  are  employed,  —  that  is,  when  the 
mesmerist  is  in  subjective  rapport  with  his  patient,  as  fully 
explained  in  a  former  chapter,  —  he  is  in  a  condition  to 
convey  suggestions  telepathically  with  as  much  certainty 
and  potency  as  he  could  orally.  In  point  of  fact,  telepathic 
suggestions  by  a  genuine  mesmerist  are  often  far  more  effi- 


FS  YCHO-  THERA  PE  UTICS. 


173 


cacious  than  the  oral  suggestions  of  a  hypnotist,  for  the 
simple  reason  that  the  mesmerist,  being  in  a  partially  sub¬ 
jective  condition  himself,  is  able  to  perceive  by  intuition 
the  true  condition  of  the  patient.  In  other  words,  the  in¬ 
tuitive,  or  subjective,  diagnosis  of  an  intelligent  mesmerist, 
supposing  always  the  true  mesmeric  conditions  to  be  present, 
is  far  more  likely  to  be  correct  than  the  objective  diagnosis 
of  the  hypnotist.  For,  be  it  known,  it  is  just  as  necessary 
for  the  mental  healer,  whatever  may  be  his  processes  or  his 
theory,  to  be  able  to  make  a  correct  diagnosis  of  a  case  as 
it  is  for  the  allopathic  physician.  The  reason  is  the  same 
in  both  cases.  The  efforts  of  the  healer  must  necessarily 
be  exerted  in  the  right  direction,  or  they  will  be  futile. 
Hence  it  is  that,  other  things  being  equal,  the  most  intelli¬ 
gent  mental  healer  is  always  the  most  successful. 

Taking  it  for  granted,  then,  that  there  is  a  fluidic  emana¬ 
tion,  or  effluence,  proceeding  from  the  mesmerist  and  im¬ 
pinging  upon  the  patient,  it  follows  that  there  is  a  positive 
dynamic  force  exerted  upon  the  patient,  either  for  good  or 
evil,  by  the  employment  of  mesmeric  methods.  That  its 
effects  are  salutary  when  properly  used  for  therapeutic  pur¬ 
poses  is  proved  by  the  concurrent  testimony  of  all  who  have 
intelligently  made  the  experiment,  from  the  days  of  Para¬ 
celsus  down  to  the  present  time. 

From  this  it  would  appear  that  mesmerism  must  be  the 
most  powerful,  in  its  immediate  effects,  of  any  of  the  known 
methods  of  mental  healing.  It  combines  oral  suggestion 
with  mental  suggestion,  and  employs  in  addition  that  mys¬ 
terious  psycho-physical  force,  or  effluence,  popularly  known 
as  animal  magnetism. 

Before  leaving  this  branch  of  the  subject,  a  few  remarks 
will  be  in  order  regarding  the  relative  value  of  the  different 
systems  of  mental  healing  now  in  vogue.  It  has  frequently 
been  charged  that  healing  by  hypnotism  and  mesmerism  is 
not  lasting  in  its  effects,  —  that  no  permanent  cure  is  ever 
made  by  these  methods.  It  must  be  admitted  that  there  is 
some  ground  for  these  statements,  although  so  sweeping  a 
charge  is  by  no  means  justifiable.  It  is  true  that  in  many 


174  the  law  of  rsYCHic  phenomena. 


instances  patients  who  have  been  cured  by  hypnotism  and 
mesmerism  have  suifered  a  relapse,  and  in  some  cases  the 
relapse  has  been  worse  than  was  the  original  sickness.  This 
of  itself  constitutes  no  valid  objection  to  the  means  of  cure  ; 
for  it  must  be  admitted  that  under  no  system  of  treatment 
is  a  patient  free  from  the  danger  of  a  relapse  or  of  a  recur¬ 
rence  of  the  disease  at  some  future  time.  There  is,  how¬ 
ever,  this  to  be  said  in  regard  to  hypnotic  or  mesTireric 
treatment  which  does  not  apply  with  the  same  force  to 
healing  by  medicines.  The  success  of  mental  methods  of 
treatment  depending,  as  it  does,  upon  the  mental  condition 
of  the  patient  and  upon  the  mental  impressions  made  upon 
him,  it  follows  that  it  the  mental  impressions  are  not  per¬ 
manent,  the  cure  may  not  be  permanent.  Hence  it  often 
happens  that  a  patient,  elated  by  the  success  of  hypnotic 
treatment  in  his  case,  relates  the  circumstances  to  his 
friends,  especially  to  his  sceptical  associates,  only  to  meet 
with  a  storm  of  ridicule,  or  at  least  with  expressions  of 
incredulity  or  doubt.  In  such  a  mental  environment  his 
subjective  mind  inevitably  takes  hold  of  the  adverse  sugges¬ 
tions,  and  without  being  objectively  conscious  of  it,  he  has 
lost  faith,  the  citadel  of  his  defence  is  broken  down,  and 
if  his  disease  had  a  mental  origin,  he  is  open  to  another 
attack  more  severe  and  serious  perhaps  than  the  first. 
That  Christ  was  fully  alive  to  this  danger  is  shown  by  the 
fact  that  when  he  healed  a  person  in  private,  he  rarely  failed 
to  place  the  solemn  injunction  upon  him,  “  See  thou  tell  no 
man.”  No  recorded  words  that  the  Master  ever  uttered 
display  a  more  profound  knowledge  of  the  underlying  prin¬ 
ciples  of  mental  healing  than  these.  Modern  healers  are 
not  so  modest,  nor  do  they  seem  to  understand  the  prime 
necessity  for  seeing  to  it  that  their  patients  are  kept  in  a 
proper  frame  of  mind  in  reference  to  their  disease  and  the 
means  employed  to  cure  them.  The  general  principle  of 
auto-suggestion  is  recognized  by  all  scientific  hypnotists  of 
the  present  day ;  but  they  fail  to  recognize  its  extreme  im¬ 
portance  as  a  therapeutic  agent.  Properly  understood  and 
applied,  auto-suggestion  supplies  a  means  of  enabling  every 


FS  YCHO-  THE  RAPE  UTICS. 


175 


one  to  heal  himself,  or  at  least  to  hold  himself  in  the  proper 
mental  attitude  to  make  permanent  the  good  effects  of  hyp¬ 
notic  treatment  by  others.  Many  of  the  pains  and  ills  to 
which  the  average  man  is  subject  can  be  cured  by  this 
means,  and  it  should  be  the  first  care  of  every  hypnotist  to 
instruct  his  patients  in  this  branch  of  the  science.  In  this 
respect  the  Christian  scientists  are  far  in  advance  of  the 
hypnotists  and  mesmerists.  They  teach  their  patients  how 
to  help  themselves.  They  organize  them  into  classes, 
deliver  lectures,  and  give  minute  instructions  how  to  treat 
themselves,  as  well  as  how  to  treat  others.  Without  knowing 
it,  they  in  effect  teach  their  patients  the  methods  of  auto¬ 
suggestion.  Without  having  the  remotest  conception  of  the 
real  principles  which  underlie  their  so-called  “  science,” 
they  have  somehow  stumbled  upon  the  machinery  of  mental 
therapeutics.  To  do  them  full  justice,  it  must  be  said  that 
they  employ  the  machinery  to  good  purpose.  They  do 
much  good  and  little  harm,  and  the  little  harm  they  do, 
generally  arises  from  over  confidence  in  the  universal  effi- 
cacy  of  their  methods. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

A  NEW  SYSTEM  OF  MENTAL  THERAPEUTICS. 

Telepathy  the  Normal  Means  of  Communication  between  Subjective 
Minds.  —  Perfect  Passivity  required  for  Therapeutic  Suggestions. 

—  Natural  Sleep  the  most  Perfect  State  of  Passivity.  —  Hypnotic 
Sleep  and  Natural  Sleep  identical. — Phenomena  of  Dreams. — 
Subjective  Mind  controllable  by  Suggestion  during  Natural  Sleep 

—  Illustrative  Incidents.  —  Passivity  a  Necessity  on  the  Part  of  the 
Operator.  —  The  Subjective  Mind  can  be  caused  to  convey  Tele¬ 
pathic  Messages  during  Sleep.  —  Illustrative  Experiments. 

The  science  of  psycho- therapeutics  is  yet  in  its  infancy. 

Thus  far  just  enough  has  been  learned  to  stimulate 
research.  It  has  been  demonstrated  that  there  is  a  psychic 
power  inherent  in  man  which  can  be  employed  for  the 
amelioration  of  his  own  physical  condition,  as  well  as  that 
of  his  fellows.  When  this  is  said,  nearly  all  the  ground 
covered  by  present  knowledge  has  been  embraced.  It  is 
true  that  many  wonderful  cures  have  been  effected,  many 
marvellous  phenomena  developed.  Nevertheless,  all  are 
groping  in  the  dark,  with  only  an  occasional  glimmering  of 
distant  light  shed  upon  the  subject ;  and  this  light  serves 
principally  to  show  how  little  is  now  known,  compared  with 
what  there  is  yet  to  learn. 

In  one  view  of  the  situation,  however,  it  may  be  said 
that  much  has  already  been  accomplished.  In  the  conflict 
of  theoretical  discussion,  and  by  means  of  the  various  and 
seemingly  conflicting  methods  of  operation,  certain  laws 
have  been  discovered  which  may  serve  as  a  basis  for  new 
experiments  and  new  discoveries.  It  is  the  province  of 
science  to  collate  those  laws  and  to  classify  the  facts  where- 


A  NE IV  SYSTEM  OF  MENTAL  THERAPEUTICS  177 


ever  found,  and  from  them  to  try  to  reason  up  to  the  gen¬ 
eral  principles  involved.  When  this  is  done,  fearlessly  and 
conscientiously,  a  decided  step  in  advance  will  have  been 
made.  Some  new  law  may  then  be  discovered,  or  at  least 
some  new  method  of  operation  may  be  developed,  which 
shall  add  to  the  general  stock  of  knowledge  of  the  science, 
and  enlarge  its  field  of  usefulness. 

It  is  the  object  of  the  writer  to  offer  a  few  observations 
in  this  chapter,  in  a  direction  believed  to  be  substantially 
new,  and  briefly  to  present  some  conclusions  at  which  he  has 
arrived  from  a  careful  examination  of  premises  which  seem 
to  have  been  well  established  by  the  experiments  of  others. 
Before  doing  so  it  will  be  necessary  first  to  state  the  pre¬ 
mises  upon  which  the  conclusions  are  based ;  and  in  doing 
this,  care  will  be  taken  not  to  travel  outside  of  well-authen¬ 
ticated  experiments. 

The  first  proposition  is,  that  there  is  inherent  in  man¬ 
kind  the  power  to  communicate  thoughts  to  others  inde¬ 
pendently  of  objective  means  of  communication.  The  tnith 
of  this  general  proposition  has  been  so  thoroughly  demon¬ 
strated  by  the  experiments  of  members  of  the  London 
Society  for  Psychical  Research  that  time  and  space  will  not 
be  wasted  in  its  further  elucidation.  For  a  full  treatment 
of  the  subject  the  reader  is  referred  to  “  Phantasms  of  the 
Living,”  in  which  the  results  of  the  researches  of  that  So¬ 
ciety  are  ably  set  forth  by  Messrs.  Edmund  (iurney,  F.  W. 
H.  Myers,  and  Frank  Podmore.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to 
remind  the  intelligent  reader  that  the  methods  of  investiga¬ 
tion  employed  by  these  able  and  indefatigable  laborers  in 
the  field  of  psychical  research  are  purely  scientific,  and  their 
works  are  singularly  free  from  manifestations  of  prejudice 
or  of  unreasoning  scepticism  on  the  one  hand,  and  of 
credulity  on  the  other.  It  is  confidently  assumed,  there¬ 
fore,  that  the  power  of  telepathic  communication  is  as 
thoroughly  established  as  any  fact  in  nature. 

Now,  telepathy  is  primarily  the  communion  of  subjective 
minds,  or  rather  it  is  the  normal  means  of  communication 
between  subjective  minds.  The  reason  of  the  apparent 

12 


178  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


rarity  of  its  manifestation  is  that  it  requires  exceptional  con¬ 
ditions  to  bring  its  results  above  the  threshold  of  conscious¬ 
ness.  There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  souls,  or 
subjective  minds,  of  men  can  and  do  habitually  hold  com¬ 
munion  with  one  another  when  not  the  remotest  perception 
of  the  fact  is  communicated  to  the  objective  intelligence. 
It  may  be  that  such  communion  is  not  general  among  men ; 
but  it  is  certain  that  it  is  held  between  those  who,  from  any 
cause,  are  en  rapport.  The  facts  recorded  by  the  Society 
for  Psychical  Research  demonstrate  that  proposition.  Thus, 
near  relatives  are  oftenest  found  to  be  in  communion,  as  is 
shown  by  the  comparative  frequency  of  telepathic  com¬ 
munications  between  relatives,  giving  warning  of  sickness 
or  of  death.  Next  in  frequency  are  communications  be¬ 
tween  intimate  friends.  Communications  of  this  character 
between  comparative  strangers  are  apparently  rare.  Of 
course  the  only  means  we  have  of  judging  of  these  things 
is  by  the  record  of  those  cases  in  which  the  communications 
have  been  brought  to  the  objective  consciousness  of  the 
percipients.  From  these  cases  it  seems  fair  to  infer  that 
the  subjective  minds  of  those  who  are  deeply  interested  in 
one  another  are  in  habitual  communion,  especially  when  the 
personal  interest  or  welfare  of  either  agent  or  percipient  is 
at  stake.  Be  this  as  it  may,  it  is  certain  that  telepathic 
communication  can  be  established  at  will  by  the  conscious 
effort  of  one  or  both  of  the  parties,  even  between  strangers. 
The  experiments  of  the  Society  above  named  have  demon¬ 
strated  this  fact.  It  will  be  assumed,  therefore,  for  the  pur¬ 
poses  of  this  argument  that  telepathic  communion  can  be 
established  between  two  subjective  minds  at  the  will  of 
either.  The  fact  may  not  be  perceived  by  the  subject,  for 
it  may  not  rise  above  the  threshold  of  his  objective  con¬ 
sciousness.  But  for  therapeutic  purposes  it  is  not  necessary 
that  the  patient  should  know,  objectively,  that  anything 
is  being  done  for  him.  Indeed,  it  is  often  better  that  he 
should  not  know  it,  for  reasons  set  forth  in  a  former  chapter. 

The  second  proposition  is  that  a  state  of  perfect  passivity 
on  the  part  of  the  percipient  is  the  most  favorable  con- 


A  NEW  SYSTEM  OF  MENTAL  THERAPEUTICS.  179 


dition  for  the  reception  of  telepathic  impressions  or  com¬ 
munications.  It  needs  no  argument  to  establish  the  truth 
of  this  proposition.  It  is  universally  known  to  be  true,  by 
all  who  have  given  the  slightest  attention  to  psychological 
science,  that  passivity  on  the  part  of  the  subject  is  the  pri¬ 
mary  condition  necessary  for  the  production  of  any  psychic 
phenomenon.  Passivity  simply  means  the  suspension  of 
tlie  functions  of  the  objective  mind  for  the  time  being,  for 
the  purpose  of  allowing  the  subjective  mind  to  receive  im¬ 
pressions  and  to  act  upon  them.  The  more  perfectly  the 
objective  intelligence  can  be  held  in  abeyance,  the  more 
perfectly  will  the  subjective  mind  perform  its  functions. 
This  is  why  a  state  of  profound  hypnotism  is  the  most  favor¬ 
able  for  the  reception  of  suggestions,  either  oral  or  mental. 
That  this  is  more  especially  true  of  mental  suggestions  is 
shown  by  all  experiments  in  mesmerism.  It  may,  there¬ 
fore,  be  safely  assumed  that  the  most  favorable  condition  in 
which  a  patient  can  be  placed  for  the  reception  of  tele¬ 
pathic  suggestions  for  therapeutic  purposes  is  the  condition 
wherein  the  functions  of  his  objective  intelligence  are,  for 
the  time  being,  entirely  suspended. 

The  third  proposition  is  that  there  is  tiothing  to  differ¬ 
entiate  hypnotic  sleep  from  natural  sleep.  Startling  as  this 
proposition  may  appear  to  the  superficial  observer,  it  is 
fully  concurred  in  both  by  M.  Li^bault  and  .Professor 
Bernheim. 

“  There  is  no  fundamental  difference,”  says  the  latter, 1  “  be¬ 
tween  spontaneous  and  induced  sleep.  M.  Li^bault  has  very 
wisely  established  this  fact.  The  spontaneous  sleeper  is  in 
relationship  with  himself  alone ;  the  idea  which  occupies  his 
mind  just  before  going  to  sleep,  the  impressions  which  the  sen¬ 
sitive  and  sensorial  nerves  of  the  periphery  continue  to  transmit 
to  the  brain,  and  the  stimuli  coming  from  the  viscera,  become 
the  point  of  departure  for  the  incoherent  images  and  impressions 
which  constitute  dreams.  Have  those  who  deny  the  psychical 
phenomena  of  hypnotism,  or  who  only  admit  them  in  cases  of 
diseased  nervous  temperament,  ever  reflected  upon  what  oc¬ 
curs  in  normal  sleep,  in  which  the  best-balanced  mind  is  carried 

^  Suggestive  Therapeutics,  pp.  140,  141. 


l8o  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


by  the  current,  in  which  the  faculties  are  dissociated,  in  which 
the  most  singular  ideas  and  the  most  fantastic  conceptions  ob¬ 
trude  ?  Poor  human  reason  is  carried  away,  the  proudest  mind 
yields  to  hallucinations,  and  during  this  sleep  —  that  is  to  say, 
during  a  quarter  of  its  existence  —  becomes  the  plaything  of 
the  dreams  which  imagination  calls  forth. 

“  In  induced  sleep  the  subject’s  mind  retains  the  memory  of 
the  person  who  has  put  him  to  sleep,  whence  the  hypnotizer’s 
power  of  playing  upon  his  imagination,  of  suggesting  dreams, 
and  of  directing  the  acts  which  are  no  longer  controlled  by  the 
weakened  or  absent  will.” 

There  are,  in  fact,  many  analogies  between  the  phenom¬ 
ena  of  normal  sleep  and  the  phenomena  of  hypnotism. 
For  instance,  it  is  well  known  that  the  recollection  of  what 
occurred  during  hypnotic  sleep  is  in  exact  inverse  propor¬ 
tion  to  the  depth  of  the  sleep.  If  the  sleep  is  light,  the 
remembrance  of  the  subject  is  perfect.  If  the  sleep  is 
profound,  he  remembers  nothing,  no  matter  what  the  char¬ 
acter  of  the  scenes  he  may  have  passed  through.  The 
same  is  true  of  dreams.  We  remember  only  those  dreams 
which  occur  during  the  period  when  we  are  just  going  to 
sleep  or  are  just  awakening.  Profound  sleep  is  dreamless,  so 
far  as  the  recollection  of  the  sleeper  informs  him.  Never¬ 
theless,  it  is  certain  that  we  dream  continuously  during 
sleep.  The  subjective  mind  is  ever  awake  during  the  sleep 
of  the  body,  and  always  active.  Our  dreams  are  often  in¬ 
coherent  and  absurd,  for  the  reason  that  they  are  generally 
invoked  by  peripheral  impressions.  These  impressions  con¬ 
stitute  suggestions  which  the  subjective  mind,  in  obedience 
to  the  universal  law,  accepts  as  true ;  and  it  always  deduces 
the  legitimate  conclusions  therefrom.  For  instance,  it  is 
probably  within  the  experience  of  every  reader  that  an 
accidental  removal  of  the  bed-clothing  during  a  cold  night 
will  cause  the  sleeper  to  dream  of  wading  through  snow,  or 
of  sleigh-riding.  And  the  dream  will  be  pleasant  or  other¬ 
wise  just  in  accordance  with  the  character  of  the  other 
attendant  peripheral  impressions.  If  the  dreamer  is  in 
good  health  he  will  dream  of  pleasant  winter  scenes  and 
experiences.  If  his  stomach  is  out  of  order,  or  overloaded, 


A  NEW  SYSTEM  OF  MENTAL  THERAPEUTICS.  l8l 

he  will  have  a  nightmare,  with  a  winter  setting  of  ice  and 
snow  and  all  that  is  disagreeable,  dank,  and  dismal. 

As  we  have  seen  in  the  preceding  chapters,  the  subjec¬ 
tive  mind  reasons  deductively  only  from  premises  that  are 
suggested  to  it,  whether  the  suggestions  are  imparted  to  it 
by  its  physical  environment,  as  in  sleep,  or  by  oral  sug¬ 
gestion,  as  in  hypnotism,  or  telepathically,  as  in  the  higher 
forms  of  mesmerism.  Its  deductions  are  always  logical, 
whether  the  premises  are  true  or  false.  Hence  the  absurd¬ 
ity  of  many  of  our  dreams ;  they  are  merely  deductions 
from  false  premises.  The  suggestions  or  impressions  im- 
‘ parted  to  us  during  sleep  being  the  result  of  accidental 
surroundings  and  stimuli,  modified  by  the  state  of  our 
health,  our  mental  work  during  the  day,  and  a  thousand 
other  things  of  which  we  can  have  no  knowledge,  and  which 
are  beyond  our  control,  are  necessarily  of  a  heterogeneous 
character ;  and  the  deductions  from  such  premises  must  of 
necessity  be  incoherent  and  fantastic  to  the  last  degree. 

It  is  obvious,  therefore,  that  the  subjective  mind  is  amen¬ 
able  to  control  by  suggestion  during  natural  sleep  just  the 
same  as  it  is  during  hypnotic,  or  induced,  sleep.  It  might 
not  be  unprofitable  in  this  connection  to  enter  into  a  gen¬ 
eral  inquiry  as  to  how  far  it  would  be  possible  to  control 
our  dreams  by  auto-suggestion,  and  thus  obviate  the  dis¬ 
comforts  incident  to  unpleasant  nocturnal  hallucinations. 
But  as  we  are  now  engaged  in  a  specific  inquiry  into  the 
question  of  how  far  the  subjective  mind  can  be  influenced 
for  therapeutic  purposes,  the  general  field  of  speculation 
must  be  left  for  others.  It  is  sufficient  for  present  pur¬ 
poses  to  establish  the  proposition  that  the  subjective  mind 
is  controllable  by  the  power  of  suggestion  during  natural 
sleep. 

Recurring  in  this  connection  to  the  preceding  proposi¬ 
tion,  that  “  a  state  of  perfect  passivity  on  the  part  of  the 
patient  is  the  most  favorable  condition  for  the  reception  of 
telepathic  impressions  or  communications  for  therapeutic 
purposes,”  the  conclusion  is  obvious  that  the  condition  of 
natural  sleep,  being  the  most  perfectly  passive  condition 


i82 


THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


imaginable,  must  of  necessity  be  the  most  favorable  condi¬ 
tion  for  the  reception  of  telepathic  suggestions  for  therapeu¬ 
tic  purposes.  It  is  especially  adapted  for  the  conveyance 
of  therapeutic  suggestions,  for  the  reason  that  for  such 
purposes  it  is  not  necessary  that  the  suggestions  or  im¬ 
pressions  should  rise  above  the  threshold  of  the  patient’s 
consciousness.  Indeed,  as  we  have  before  observed,  it  is 
better  that  they  should  not.  The  object  being  merely  the 
restoration  of  health,  it  is  not  necessary  that  the  objective 
mind  should  feel,  or  be  conscious  of,  the  impressions  or 
suggestions  made.  It  is  precisely  as  it  is  in  hypnotism ; 
the  suggestions,  whether  oral  or  telepathic,  are  made  to  the 
subjective  intelligence  j  and,  in  case  of  profound  hypnotic 
sleep,  the  objective  mind  retains  no  recollection  of  the  sug¬ 
gestions.  In  either  case  the  subjective  mind  is  the  one 
addressed ;  and  that,  being  the  central  power  in  control  of 
the  functions  and  conditions  of  the  body,  accepts  the  sug¬ 
gestions  and  acts  accordingly. 

There  are  not  wanting  facts  which  show  clearly  that  the 
power  exists  to  convey  telepathic  messages  to  sleeping  per¬ 
sons,  causing  them  to  dream  of  the  things  that  the  agent 
desires.  As  long  ago  as  1819,  Councillor  H.  M.  Weser- 
mann,  of  Diisseldorf,  recorded,  in  the  “Archiv  ftir  den 
thierischen  Magnetismus,”  1  a  few  experiments  of  his  own 
which  show  this  to  be  true.  The  following  items  are  re¬ 
produced  in  “Phantasms  of  the  Living,”^  from  the  original 
article  above  mentioned  :  — 

First  Experiment,  at  a  Distance  of  Five  Miles.  —  I  en¬ 
deavored  to  acquaint  my  friend,  the  Hofkammerrath  G.  (whom 
I  had  not  seen,  with  whom  I  had  not  spoken,  and  to  whom  I 
had  not  written  for  thirteen  years),  with  the  fact  of  my  intended 
visit,  by  presenting  my  form  to  him  in  his  sleep,  through  the 
force  of  my  will.  When  I  unexpectedly  went  to  him  on  the 
following  evening,  he  evinced  his  astonishment  at  having  seen 
me  in  a  dream  on  the  preceding  night. 

'•'■Second  Experiment,  at  a  Distance  of  Three  Miles. — 
Madame  W.,  in  her  sleep,  was  to  hear  a  conversation  between 


1  Vol.  vi.  pp.  136-139. 


2  Vol.  i.  pp.  loi,  102. 


A  NEIV  SYSTEM  OF  MENTAL  THERAPEUTICS.  1 83 

me  and  two  other  persons,  relating  to  a  certain  secret ;  and 
when  I  visited  her  on  the  third  day,  she  told  me  all  that  had 
been  said,  and  showed  her  astonishment  at  this  remarkable 
dream. 

“  Third  E.xperime7tt,  at  a  Distance  of  One  Mile.  —  An  aged 

person  in  G - was  to  see  in  a  dream  the  funeral  procession 

of  my  deceased  friend  S. ;  and  when  I  visited  her  on  the  next 
day,  her  first  words  were  that  she  had  in  her  sleep  seen  a  funeral 
procession,  and  on  inquiry  had  learned  that  I  was  the  corpse. 
Here  there  was  a  slight  error. 

“  Fourth  Experime7it,  at  a  Distance  of  One-Eighth  of  a 
Mile.  —  Herr  Doctor  B.  desired  a  trial  to  convince  him,  where¬ 
upon  I  represented  to  him  a  nocturnal  street-brawl.  He  saw  it 
in  a  dream,  to  his  great  astonishment.  (This  means,  presum¬ 
ably,  that  he  was  astonished  when  he  found  that  the  actual 
subject  of  his  dream  was  what  Wesermann  had  been  endeavor¬ 
ing  to  impress  on  him.)  ” 

It  w'ould  thus  seem  to  be  reasonably  well  established 
that  the  state  of  natural  sleep  is  the  best  possible  condition 
for  the  reception  of  telepathic  suggestions  for  therapeutic 
purposes. 

The  next  inquiry  in  order  is,  therefore,  as  to  what  is 
the  best  means  of  conveying  telepathic  suggestion  to  the 
sleeping  patient.  In  a  previous  chapter  it  has  been  shown 
that  a  successful  mesmerizer  must  necessarily  be  in  a  par¬ 
tially  subjective  condition  himself  in  order  to  produce  the 
higher  phenomena  of  mesmerism.  It  may,  it  is  thought, 
be  safely  assumed  that  the  phenomenon  of  thought-trans¬ 
ference  cannot  be  produced  under  any  other  conditions. 
Indeed,  it  stands  to  reason  that,  inasmuch  as  it  is  the  sub¬ 
jective  mind  of  the  percipient  that  is  impressed,  the  mes¬ 
sage  must  proceed  from  the  subjective  mind  of  the  agent. 
In  other  words,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that,  the  sub¬ 
jective  or  passive  ccMidition  being  a  necessity  on  the  part 
of  the  percipient  or  subject,  an  analogous  condition  is  a 
necessity  on  the  part  of  the  agent  or  operator.  This  fact 
is  shown,  not  only  in  mesmerism,  but  in  the  methods  of 
Christian  scientists.  The  mesmerist,  as  we  have  seen, 
quietly  fixes  his  gaze  upon  the  subject  and  concentrates 


1 84  of  psychic  phenomena. 


his  mind  and  will  upon  the  work  in  hand,  and  thus,  un¬ 
knowingly,  it  may  be,  partially  hypnotizes  himself.  The 
Christian  scientist  sits  quietly  by  the  patient  and  concen¬ 
trates  his  mind,  in  like  manner,  upon  the  central  idea  of 
curing  the  patient.  And,  in  either  case,  just  in  propor¬ 
tion  to  the  ability  of  the  operator  to  get  himself  into  the 
subjective  condition  will  he  succeed  in  accomplishing  his 
object,  whether  it  is  the  production  of  the  higher  phenom¬ 
ena  of  mesmerism,  or  the  healing  of  the  sick  by  telepathic 
suggestion. 

If,  then,  the  passive,  or  subjective,  condition  of  the  agent 
is  necessary  for  the  successful  transmission  of  telepathic 
suggestions  or  communications,  or  if  it  is  the  best  condi¬ 
tion  for  such  a  purpose,  it  follows  that  the  more  perfectly 
that  condition  is  attained,  the  more  successful  will  be  the 
experiment.  As  before  observed,  the  condition  of  natural 
sleep  is  manifestly  the  most  perfectly  passive  condition  at¬ 
tainable.  It  is  necessarily  perfect,  for  all  the  objective 
senses  are  locked  in  slumber,  and  the  subjective  mind  is 
free  to  act  in  accordance  with  the  laws  which  govern  it. 
Those  laws  are,  it  is  true,  at  present  but  little  understood  j 
but  this  much  has  been  demonstrated,  namely,  that  the 
subjective  mind  is  controllable  by  the  mysterious  power  of 
suggestion,  and  is  always  most  active  during  sleep. 

Theoretically,  then,  we  find  that  the  most  perfect  condi¬ 
tion  either  for  the  conveyance  or  the  reception  of  telepa¬ 
thic  impressions  or  communications  is  that  of  natural  sleep. 
The  only  question  that  remains  to  be  settled  is  whether  it 
is  possible  for  the  agent  or  operator  so  to  control  his  own 
subjective  mind  during  his  bodily  sleep  as  to  compel  or 
induce  it  to  convey  the  desired  message  to  the  sub-con¬ 
sciousness  of  the  patient.  To  settle  this  question,  we  must 
again  have  recourse  to  the  record  of  the  labors  and  re¬ 
searches  of  the  London  Society  for  Psychical  Research.  It 
might  well  be  inferred  that  this  power  must  necessarily  be 
possessed,  when  we  take  into  consideration  the  general  law 
of  suggestion,  coupled  with  the  fact  that  the  subjective 
mind  is  perfectly  amenable  to  control  by  auto-suggestion. 


A  NEW  SYSTEM  OF  MENTAL  THERAPEUTICS.  1 85 

If  the  law  of  suggestion  is  valid  and  universal,  the  conclu¬ 
sion  is  irresistible  that  this  power  is  inherent  in  man,  even 
without  one  experimental  fact  to  sustain  it.  Fortunately, 
we  are  not  left  to  conjecture  in  regard  to  this  important 
question.  The  literature  of  psychical  experiment  is  full  of 
facts  which  are  demonstrative.  Some  of  the  experiments 
recorded  in  “  Phantasms  of  the  Living  ”  show  that  a  vastly 
greater  power  exists  in  this  direction  than  would  be  re¬ 
quired  to  convey  a  simple  therapeutic  suggestion  to  a  sleep¬ 
ing  patient.  The  following  experiments  are  recorded  in 
“  Phantasms  of  the  Living.”  ^  In  the  first  case,  the  Rev. 
W.  Stainton  Moses  was  the  percipient,  and  he  corroborates 
the  following  account,  written  by  the  agent :  — 

“  One  evening  I  resolved  to  appear  to  Z  at  some  miles’  dis¬ 
tance.  I  did  not  inform  him  beforehand  of  the  intended  ex¬ 
periment,  but  retired  to  rest  shortly  before  midnight  with 
thoughts  intently  fixed  on  Z,  with  whose  room  and  surround¬ 
ings  I  was  quite  unacquainted.  I  soon  fell  asleep,  and  awoke 
next  morning  unconscious  of  anything  having  taken  place.  On 
seeing  Z,  a  few  days  afterwards,  I  inquired,  ‘  Did  anything 
happen  at  your  rooms  on  Saturday  night  ?  ’  ‘  Yes,’  replied  he, 

‘  a  great  deal  happened.  I  had  been  sitting  over  the  fire  with 
M,  smoking  and  chatting.  About  12.30  he  rose  to  leave,  and  I 
let  him  out  myself.  I  returned  to  the  fire  to  finish  my  pipe, 
when  I  saw  you  sitting  in  the  chair  just  vacated  by  him.  I 
looked  intently  at  you,  and  then  took  up  a  newspaper  to  as¬ 
sure  myself  I  was  not  dreaming;  but  on  laying  it  down  I  saw 
you  still  there.  While  I  gazed,  without  speaking,  you  faded 
away.’  ” 

The  next  case  was  recorded  by  the  agent,  Mr.  S.  H.  B., 
at  the  time  of  the  occurrence,  and  his  account  of  it  is  duly 
verified  by  the  percipients.  It  is  as  follows  :  — 

On  a  certain  Sunday  evening  in  November,  i88i,  having 
been  reading  of  the  great  power  which  the  human  will  is  ca¬ 
pable  of  exercising,  I  determined,  with  the  whole  force  of  my 
being,  that  I  would  be  present  in  spirit  in  the  front  bed-room  on 
the  second  floor  of  a  house  situated  at  22  Hogarth  Road,  Ken¬ 
sington,  in  which  room  slept  two  ladies  of  my  acquaintance,  — 


1  Vol.  i.  pp.  103-109. 


1 86  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


namely,  Miss  L.  S.  V.  and  Miss  E.  C.  V.,  aged  respectively 
twenty-five  and  eleven  years.  1  was  living  at  this  time  at  23 
Kildare  Gardens,  a  distance  of  about  three  miles  from  Hogarth 
Road ;  and  I  had  not  mentioned  in  any  way  my  intention  of 
trying  this  experiment  to  either  of  the  above  ladies,  for  the 
simple  reason  that  it  was  only  on  retiring  to  rest  upon  this  Sun¬ 
day  night  that  I  made  up  my  mind  to  do  so.  The  time  at 
which  I  determined  I  would  be  there  was  one  o’clock  in  the 
morning ;  and  I  also  had  a  strong  intention  of  making  my  pres¬ 
ence  perceptible.  On  the  following  Thursday  I  went  to  see  the 
ladies  in  question,  and,  in  the  course  of  conversation  (without 
any  allusion  to  the  subject  on  my  part),  the  elder  one  told  me 
that  on  the  previous  Sunday  night  she  had  been  much  terri¬ 
fied  by  perceiving  me  standing  by  her  bedside,  and  that  she 
screamed  when  the  apparition  advanced  towards  her,  and  awoke 
her  little  sister,  who  saw  me  also. 

I  asked  her  if  she  was  awake  at  the  time,  and  she  replied 
most  decidedly  in  the  affirmative ;  and  upon  my  inquiring  the 
time  of  the  occurrence,  she  replied,  “About  one  o’clock  in  the 
morning.” 

This  lady,  at  my  request,  wrote  down  a  statement  of  the 
event,  and  signed  it. 

This  was  the  first  occasion  upon  which  I  tried  an  experi¬ 
ment  of  this  kind,  and  its  complete  success  startled  me  very 
much.  Besides  exercising  my  power  of  volition  very  strongly, 
I  put  forth  an  effort  which  1  cannot  find  words  to  describe.  I 
was  conscious  of  a  mysterious  influence  of  some  sort  perme¬ 
ating  in  my  body,  and  had  a  distinct  impression  that  I  was 
exercising  some  force  with  which  I  had  been  hitherto  unac¬ 
quainted,  but  which  I  can  now  at  certain  times  set  in  motion 
at  will.  S.  H.  B. 

The  .  next  case  of  Mr.  S.  H.  B.’s  is  different  in  this  re¬ 
spect,  that  the  percipient  was  not  consciously  present  to  the 
agent’s  mind  on  the  night  that  he  made  his  attempt :  — 

On  Friday,  Dec.  i,  1882,  at  9.30  p.  M.,  I  went  into  a  room 
alone  and  sat  by  the  fireside,  and  endeavored  so  strongly  to  fix 
my  mind  upon  the  interior  of  a  house  at  Kew  (namely,  Clarence 
Road),  in  which  resided’  Miss  V.  and  her  two  sisters,  that  I 
seemed  to  be  actually  in  the  house. 

During  this  experiment  I  must  have  fallen  into  a  mesmeric 
sleep,  for  although  I  was  conscious,  I  could  not  move  my 
limbs.  I  did  not  seem  to  have  lost  the  power  of  moving  them. 


A  NEW  SYSTEM  OF  MENTAL  THERAPEUTICS.  1 87 


but  I  could  not  make  the  effort  to  do  so ;  and  my  hands,  which 
lay  loosely  on  my  knees,  about  six  inches  apart,  felt  involun¬ 
tarily  drawn  together,  and  seemed  to  meet,  although  I  was 
conscious  that  they  did  not  move. 

At  10  P.  M.  1  regained  my  normal  state  by  an  effort  of  the 
will,  and  then  took  a  pencil  and  wrote  down  on  a  sheet  of  note- 
paper  the  foregoing  statements. 

When  I  went  to  bed  on  this  same  night  1  determined  that  1 
would  be  in  the  front  bed-room  of  the  above-mentioned  house 
at  12  p.  M.,  and  remain  there  until  I  had  made  my  spiritual 
presence  perceptible  to  the  inmates  of  that  room. 

On  the  next  day  (Saturday)  I  went  to  Kew  to  spend  the 
evening,  and  met  there  a  married  sister  of  Miss  V.  (namely, 
Mrs.  L.).  This  lady  1  had  only  met  once  before,  and  then  it 
was  at  a  ball  two  years  previous  to  the  above  date.  We  were 
both  in  fancy  dress  at  the  time,  and  as  we  did  not  exchange 
more  than  half-a-dozen  words,  this  lady  would  naturally  have 
lost  any  vivid  recollection  of  my  appearance,  even  if  she  had 
remarked  it. 

In  the  course  of  conversation  (although  I  did  not  think  for 
a  moment  of  asking  her  any  questions  on  such  a  subject)  she 
told  me  that  on  the  previous  night  she  had  seen  me  distinctly 
upon  two  occasions.  She  had  spent  the  night  at  Clarence 
Road,  and  had  slept  in  the  front  bed-room.  At  about  9.30  she 
had  seen  me  in  the  passage,  going  from  one  room  to  another ; 
and  at  12  p.  m.,  when  she  was  wide  awake,  she  had  seen  me 
enter  the  bedroom  and  walk  round  to  where  she  was  sleeping, 
and  take  her  hair  (which  is  very  long)  into  my  hand.  She  also 
told  me  that  the  apparition  took  hold  of  her  hand  and  gazed 
intently  into  it,  whereupon  she  spoke,  saying,  “You  need  not 
look  at  the  lines,  for  I  have  never  had  any  trouble.”  She  then 
awoke  her  sister,  Miss  V.,  who  was  sleeping  with  her,  and  told 
her  about  it.  After  hearing  this  account,  I  took  the  statement 
which  I  had  written  down  on  the  previous  evening  from  my 
pocket  and  showed  it  to  some  of  the  persons  present,  who  were 
much  astonished,  although  incredulous. 

1  asked  Mrs.  L.  if  she  was  not  dreaming  at  the  time  of  the 
latter  experience ;  but  this  she  stoutly  denied,  and  stated  that 
she  had  forgotten  what  I  was  like,  but  seeing  me  so  distinctly, 
she  recognized  me  at  once. 

Mrs.  L.  is  a  lady  of  highly  imaginative  temperament,  and 
told  me  that  she  had  been  subject  since  childhood  to  psycho¬ 
logical  fancies,  etc. ;  but  the  wonderful  coincidence  of  the  time 
(which  was  exact)  convinced  me  that  what  she  told  me  was 


l88  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


more  than  a  flight  of  the  imagination.  At  my  request  she 
wrote  a  brief  account  of  her  impressions,  and  signed  it. 

S.  H.  B. 

One  of  the  authors  of  “  Phantasms  of  the  Living  ”  (Mr. 
Gurney)  on  one  occasion  requested  Mr.  B.  to  send  him  a 
note  on  the  night  that  he  intended  to  make  his  next  ex¬ 
periment  of  the  kind,  whereupon  the  following  correspon¬ 
dence  ensued  :  — 

March  22,  1884. 

Dear  Mr.  Gurney, —  I  am  going  to  try  the  experiment  to¬ 
night  of  making  my  presence  perceptible  at  44  Morland  Square, 
at  12  p.  M.  I  will  let  you  know  the  result  in  a  few  days. 

Yours  very  sincerely,  S.  H.  B. 

The  next  letter  was  received  in  the  course  of  the  follow¬ 
ing  week  :  — 

April  3,  1884. 

Dear  Mr.  Gurney, —  I  have  a  strange  statement  to  show 
you  respecting  my  experiment,  which  was  tried  at  your  sugges¬ 
tion,  and  under  the  test  conditions  which  you  imposed.  Hav¬ 
ing  quite  forgotten  which  night  it  was  on  which  I  attempted 
the  projection,  I  cannot  say  whether  the  result  is  a  brilliant 
success,  or  only  a  slight  one,  until  I  see  the  letter  which  I 
posted  you  on  the  evening  of  the  experiment.  Having  sent  you 
that  letter,  I  did  not  deem  it  necessary  to  make  a  note  in  my 
diary,  and  consequently  have  let  the  exact  date  slip  my  mem¬ 
ory.  If  the  dates  correspond,  the  success  is  complete  in  every 
detail,  and  I  have  an  account  signed  and  witnessed  to  show 
you. 

I  saw  the  lady  (who  was  the  subject)  for  the  first  time  last 
night,  since  the  experiment,  and  she  made  a  voluntary  state¬ 
ment  to  me,  which  I  wrote  down  at  her  dictation,  and  to  which 
she  has  attached  her  signature.  The  date  and  time  of  the  ap¬ 
parition  are  specified  in  this  statement,  and  it  will  be  for  you  to 
decide  whether  they  are  identical  with  those  given  in  my  letter 
to  you.  I  have  completely  forgotten,  but  yet  I  fancy  that  they 
are  the  same.  S.  H.  B. 

This  is  the  statement :  — 

44  Morland  Square,  W. 

On  Saturday  night,  March  22,  1884,  at  about  midnight,  I 
had  a  distinct  impression  that  Mr.  S.  H.  B.  was  present  in  my 


A  NEW  SYSTEM  OF  MENTAL  THERAPEUTICS.  189 


room,  and  I  distinctly  saw  him  whilst  I  was  quite  wide  awake. 
He  came  towards  me  and  stroked  my  hair.  I  vohintarily  gave 
him  this  information  when  he  called  to  see  me  on  Wednesday, 
April  2,  telling  him  the  time  and  the  circumstances  of  the  appa¬ 
rition,  without  any  suggestion  on  his  part.  The  appearance  in 
my  room  was  most  vivid,  and  quite  unmistakable. 

L.  S.  Verity. 


Miss  A.  S.  Verity  corroborates  as  follows ;  — 

I  remember  my  sister  telling  me  that  she  had  seen  S.  H.  B., 
and  that  he  had  touched  her  hair,  before  he  came  to  see  us  on 
April  2.  A.  S.  V. 

Mr.  B.’s  own  account  is  as  follows  ;  — 

On  Saturday,  March  22,  I  determined  to  make  my  presence 
perceptible  to  Miss  V.  at  44  Morland  Square,  Notting  Hill,  at 
twelve,  midnight;  and  as  I  had  previously  arranged  with  Mr. 
Gurney  that  I  should  post  him  a  letter  on  the  evening  on  which 
I  tried  my  next  experiment  (stating  the  time  and  other  particu¬ 
lars),  I  sent  a  note  to  acquaint  him  with  the  above  facts. 

About  ten  days  afterwards  I  called  upon  Miss  V.,  and  she 
voluntarily  told  me  that  on  March  22,  at  twelve  o’clock,  mid¬ 
night,  she  had  seen  me  so  vividly  in  her  room  (whilst  widely 
awake)  that  her  nerves  had  been  much  shaken,  and  she  had 
been  obliged  to  send  for  a  docto-  in  the  morning. 

S.  H.  B. 

Mr.  Gurney  adds  :  — 

“  It  will  be  observed  that  in  all  these  instances  the  conditions 
were  the  same,  —  the  agent  concentrating  his  thoughts  on  the 
object  in  view  before  going  to  sleep.  Mr.  B.  has  never  succeeded 
in  producing  a  similar  effect  when  he  has  been  awake.” 

The  foregoing  instances  have  been  quoted  merely  for  the 
purpose  of  showing  that  the  power  exists  in  mankind  to 
cause  telepathic  impressions  to  be  conveyed  from  one  to 
another,  not  only  when  the  percipient  is  awake  and  the 
agent  is  asleep,  but  when  both  are  asleep.  It  is  true  that 
they  do  not  demonstrate  the  proposition  that  the  power 
can  be  employed  for  therapeutic  purposes  when  both  are 
asleep ;  but  the  inference  is  irresistible  that  such  is  the 
case.  They  do,  however,  demonstrate  the  existence  of  a 


190  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


power  far  greater  than  one  would  naturally  suppose  would 
be  required  to  convey  a  therapeutic  suggestion.  In  the 
cases  cited,  the  impressions  were  brought  above  the  thresh¬ 
old  of  the  consciousness  of  the  percipients.  It  may  well 
be  inferred  that  a  power  sufficiently  great  to  cause  the  per¬ 
cipient,  in  his  waking  moments,  to  see  the  image  or  appa¬ 
rition  of  the  agent,  or  even  to  dream  of  him  when  asleep 
so  vividly  as  to  remember  the  dream,  must  be  easily  ca¬ 
pable  of  imparting  any  thought,  impression,  or  suggestion 
which  is  not  required  to  be  raised  above  the  threshold  of 
consciousness. 

All  that  would  seem  to  be  required  is  that  the  agent, 
before  going  to  sleep,  should  strongly  wiU,  desire,  and  di¬ 
rect  his  subjective  entity  to  convey  the  necessary  thera¬ 
peutic  suggestions,  inlluence,  or  impressions  to  the  sleeping 
patient. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

A  NEW  SYSTEM  OE  MENTAL  THERAPEUTICS  {C07ltimied) . 

Recapitulation  of  Propositions.  —  Natural  Sleep  the  Best  Condition 
attainable  both  for  Healer  and  Patient.  —  Demonstrative  Experi- 
ments. — Healing  at  a  Distance  of  One  Thousand  Miles.  —  Dis¬ 
tance  no  Obstacle.  —  Space  does  not  exist  for  the  Subjective 
Mind.  —  Objective  Habits  of  Thought  the  only  Adverse  Eactor. — 
Diseases  treated.  —  .Strabismus  Cured.  —  Mode  of  Operation. — 
Not  a  Good  Money-making  Scheme.  —  It  Promotes  the  Health  of 
the  Healer.  —  A  Method  of  Universal  Utility.  —  Self-healing  its 
Most  Important  Function.  —  The  Power  absolute. —  Within  the 
Reach  of  all.  —  Method  of  Self-healing. — The  Patient’s  Credulity 
not  overtaxed. —  The  Example  of  Christ.  —  Material  Remedies 
not  to  be  ignored.  — Advice  to  Christian  Scientists. — ^The  Control 
of  Dreams. —  Practical  Conclusions. 

IT  is  thought  that  the  following  propositions  have  now 
been,  at  least  provisionally,  established  ;  — 

I .  There  us,  inherent  in  man,  a  power  which  enables  him 
to  communicate  his  thoughts  to  others,  independently  of 
objective  means  of  communication. 

2.  A  state  of  perfect  passivity  on  the  part  of  the  perci¬ 
pient  is  the  most  favorable  condition  for  the  reception  of 
telepathic  impressions  or  communications. 

3.  There  is  nothing  to  differentiate  natural  sleep  from 
induced  sleep. 

4.  The  subjective  mind  is  amenable  to  control  by  sug¬ 
gestion  during  natur.al  sleep  just  the  same  as  it  is  during 
induced  sleep. 

5.  The  condition  of  natural  sleep,  being  the  most  per¬ 
fect  passive  condition  attainable,  is  the  best  condition  for 
the  reception  of  telepathic  impressions  by  the  subjective 
mind. 


192  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 

6.  The  most  perfect  condition  for  the  conveyance  of  tele¬ 
pathic  impressions  is  that  of  natural  sleep. 

7.  The  subjective  mind  of  the  agent  can  be  compelled 
to  communicate  telepathic  impressions  to  a  sleeping  perci¬ 
pient  by  strongly  willing  it  to  do  so  just  previous  to  going 
to  sleep. 

The  chain  of  reasoning  embraced  in  the  foregoing  propo¬ 
sitions  seems  to  be  perfect ;  and  it  is  thought  that  sufficient 
facts  have  been  adduced  to  sustain  each  proposition  which 
is  not  self-evident,  or  confirmed  by  the  common  experience 
of  mankind.  The  conclusion  is  irresistible  that  the  best 
possible  coTidition  for  the  conveyance  of  therapeutic  sugges¬ 
tions  fro7n  the  healer  to  the  patient  is  attained  when  both 
are  in  a  state  of  tiatural  sleep  ;  and  that  such  suggestions 
can  be  so  communicated  by  an  effort  of  will  on  the  part  of 
the  healer  just  before  going  to  sleep. 

It  is  not  proposed  herein  to  detail  the  many  experiments 
which  have  been  made  with  a  view  of  testing  the  correctness 
of  this  theory,  my  present  object  being  to  advance  the 
hypothesis  tentatively,  in  order  to  induce  others  to  experi¬ 
ment  as  I  have  done.  It  must  suffice  for  the  present  to 
state  that  over  one  hundred  experiments  have  been  made 
by  the  writer  and  one  or  two  others  to  whom  he  has  con¬ 
fided  his  theory,  without  a  single  failure.  Some  very  strik¬ 
ing  cures  have  been  effected,  —  cures  that  would  take  rank 
with  the  most  marvellous  instances  of  healing  recorded  in 
the  annals  of  modern  psycho-therapeutics.  It  is  obvious 
that  details  of  names  and  dates  could  not  properly  be 
given,  for  the  reason  that  the  cures  have  been  effected 
without  any  knowledge  on  the  part  of  the  patients  that  they 
were  being  made  the  subjects  of  experiment.  I  do  not  feel 
at  liberty,  therefore,  to  drag  their  names  before  the  public 
without  their  consent.  Besides,  if  they  were  now  made 
acquainted  with  the  facts,  their  recollection  of  the  circum¬ 
stances  of  their  recovery  would  in  many  instances  be  indis¬ 
tinct  ;  and,  as  a  matter  of  course,  all  of  them  have  attributed 
their  sudden  recovery  to  other  causes. 

I  have  taken  care,  however,  in  many  instances  to  acquaint 


A  NEW  SYSTEM  OF  MENTAL  THERAPEUTICS  193 


third  persons  with  intended  experiments,  and  to  request 
them  to  watch  the  results ;  so  that  I  have  the  means  at 
hand  to  verify  my  statements  if  necessary. 

The  first  case  was  that  of  a  relative  who  had  for  many 
years  been  afflicted  with  nervous  trouble,  accompanied  by 
rheumatism  of  the  most  terrible  character.  He  was  subject 
to  the  most  excruciating  spasms  during  his  nervous  attacks 
of  rheumatic  trouble,  and  was  frequently  brought  to  the  verge 
of  the  grave.  He  had  been  under  the  care  of  many  of  the 
ablest  pliysicians  of  this  country  and  of  Europe,  finding  only 
occasional  temporary  relief.  .4n  idea  of  the  suffering  which 
he  endured  may  be  imagined  from  the  fact  that  one  of  his 
hips  had  been  drawn  out  of  joint,  by  which  the  leg  had 
been  shortened  about  two  inches.  This,  however,  had  been 
partially  restored  by  physical  appliances  before  the  psychic 
treatment  began.  In  short,  he  was  a  hopeless  invalid,  with 
nothing  to  look  to  for  relief  from  his  sufferings  but  death. 

The  treatment  began  on  the  15th  of  May,  1890.  Two 
persons  were  informed  of  the  proposed  experiment,  and 
were  requested  to  note  the  time  when  the  treatment  began, 
'fhey  were  pledged  to  profound  secrecy,  and  to  this  day  the 
patient  is  not  aware  that  he  was  made  the  subject  of  an  ex¬ 
periment  in  psycho- therapeutics.  After  the  lapse  of  a  few 
months,  one  of  the  persons  intrusted  with  the  secret  met  the 
invalid,  and  learned,  to  her  surprise  and  delight,  that  he  was 
comparatively  well.  When  asked  when  he  began  to  im¬ 
prove,  his  reply  was,  “  About  the  middle  of  May.”  Since 
then  he  has  been  able  at  all  times  to  attend  to  the  duties 
of  his  profession,  —  that  of  journalist  and  magazine-writer, 
—  and  has  had  no  recurrence  of  his  old  trouble. 

Of  course,  this  may  hav'e  been  a  coincidence ;  and  had 
it  stood  as  a  solitary  instance,  that  would  hav_  been  the 
most  rational  way  of  accounting  for  it.  But  a  hundred  such 
coincidences  do  not  happen  in  succession  without  a  single 
break  ;  and  more  than  a  hundred  experiments  have  been 
made  by  this  process  by  myself  and  two  other  persons,  and 
not  a  single  failure  has  thus  far  been  experienced,  where  the 
proper  conditions  have  been  observed.  In  two  cases  the 

'3  , 


194  the  law  of  psych ic  phenomena. 


patients  liave  not  been  perceptibly  benefited ;  but  in  both 
of  those  they  were  notified  of  the  intended  experiments,  and 
were  profoundly  sceptical.  But  these  failures  cannot  be 
charged  to  the  account  of  this  method  of  treatment,  for  the 
simple  reason  that  the  fundamental  principle  of  the  system 
was  deliberately  violated.  That  is  to  say,  the  best  condi¬ 
tions  were  not  observed,  —  in  that  the  patient  was  informed 
beforehand  of  what  was  intended.  In  such  cases  the  healer 
is  handicapped  by  probable  adverse  auto-suggestion,  as  has 
been  fully  explained  in  former  chapters.  The  principle  can¬ 
not  be  too  strongly  enforced  that  neither  the  patient  nor 
any  of  his  immediate  family  should  ever  be  informed  be¬ 
forehand  of  the  intended  experiment.  Failure  does  not 
necessarily  follow  the  imparting  of  such  information;  but 
when  the  patient  or  his  immediate  friends  are  aware  of  the 
effort  being  made  in  his  behalf,  there  is  always  danger  of 
adverse  auto-suggestion  on  the  part  of  the  patient,  or  of 
adverse  suggestion  being  made  orally  or  telepathically  by 
his  sceptical  friends.  The  conditions  are  then  no  better 
and  no  worse  than  the  conditions  ordinarily  encountered  by 
those  who  employ  other  methods  of  mental  healing.  I  have 
successfully  treated  patients  after  informing  them  of  my  in¬ 
tentions  ;  but  it  was  because  I  first  succeeded  in  impress¬ 
ing  them  favorably,  and  their  mental  environment  was  not 
antagonistic. 

One  fact  of  peculiar  significance  connected  with  the  case 
of  rheumatism  above  mentioned  must  not  be  omitted ;  and 
this  is  that  the  patient  was  a  thousand  miles  distant  when 
the  cure  was  performed.  Others  have  been  successfully 
treated  at  distances  varying  from  one  to  three  hundred 
miles.  The  truth  is,  as  has  been  before  remarked,  space 
does  not  seem  to  exist  for  the  subjective  mind.  Experi¬ 
mental  telepathy  demonstrates  this  fact.  Cases  of  thought- 
transference  are  recorded  where  the  percipient  was  at  the 
antipodes.  The  only  thing  that  operates  to  prevent  suc¬ 
cessful  telepathy  between  persons  at  great  distances  from 
each  other  is  our  habit  of  thinking.  We  are  accustomed 
to  regard  space  as  an  obstacle  which  necessarily  prevents 


A  NEW  SYS  TEA!  OF  MENTAL  THERAPEUTICS.  195 


successful  communication  between  persons.  It  is  difficult 
to  realize  that  space  is  merely  a  mode  of  objective  thought, 
so  to  speak,  and  that  it  does  not  exist  as  an  obstacle  in  the 
way  of  subjective  transmission  of  impressions.  We  are, 
therefore,  handicapped  by  a  want  of  faith  in  our  ability  in 
that  direction.  In  other  words,  our  faith  is  in  inverse  pro- 
I)ortion  to  the  distance  involved.  When  we  can  once  re¬ 
alize  the  fact  that  distance  does  not  exist  for  the  soul,  we 
shall  find  that  a  patient  can  be  treated  as  successfully  by 
telepathic  suggestion  in  one  part  of  the  world  as  another. 
I'he  only  exception  to  the  rule  will  be  when  the  patient 
is  at  the  antipodes ;  for  then  the  healer  and  the  patient 
will  not  ordinarily  both  be  asleep  at  the  same  time.  But 
space,  or  distance  between  the  agent  and  the  percipient, 
does  not  enter  per  se  as  an  adverse  element  to  modify  the 
effects  of  telepathic  suggestion. 

The  diseases  thus  far  successfully  treated  by  this  process 
have  been  rheumatism,  neuralgia,  dyspepsia,  bowel  com¬ 
plaint,  sick  headache,  torpidity  of  the  liver,  chronic  bron¬ 
chitis,  partial  paralysis,  pen  paralysis,  and  strabismus.  The 
last-named  case  was  not  treated  by  myself,  and  I  very 
seriously  doubt  whether  I  could  have  commanded  sufficient 
confidence  to  be  successful.  But  a  lady,  whom  I  had  in¬ 
structed  in  the  process,  asked  me  if  I  thought  there  was  any 
use  in  her  trying  to  cure  a  bad  case  of  strabismus,  her  little 
niece,  about  ten  years  of  age,  having  been  thus  afflicted 
from  her  birth.  I  unhesitatingly  assured  her  that  there 
was  no  doubt  of  her  ability  to  effect  a  cure.  Full  of  confi¬ 
dence,  she  commenced  tlie  treatment,  and  kept  it  up  for 
about  three  months,  at  the  end  of  which  time  the  cure  was 
complete.  In  this  case  the  best  conditions  were  rigidly 
adhered  to,  no  one  but  myself  having  been  informed  of 
the  intended  experiment.  A  volume  could  be  filled  with 
the  details  of  the  experiments  which  have  been  made ;  but 
as  it  is  foreign  to  the  purpose  of  this  book  to  treat  exhaus¬ 
tively  any  one  phase  of  psychological  phenomena,  but  rather 
to  develop  a  working  hypothesis  applicable  to  all  branches 
of  the  subject,  the  foregoing  must  suffice. 


196  THE  LA  IV  OF  PSYCIlIC  PHENOMENA. 

Little  need  be  said  regarding  the  mode  of  operation,  as 
it  is  apparent  from  what  has  been  said  that  the  method  is 
as  simple  as  it  is  effective.  All  that  is  required  on  the  part  of 
the  operator  is  that  he  shall  be  possessed  of  an  earnest  de¬ 
sire  to  cure  the  patient  ■,  that  he  shall  concentrate  his  mind, 
just  before  going  to  sleep,  upon  the  work  in  hand,  and 
direct  his  subjective  mind  to  occupy  itself  during  the  night 
in  conveying  therapeutic  suggestions  to  the  patient.  To 
that  end  the  operator  must  accustom  himself  to  the  assump¬ 
tion  that  his  subjective  mind  is  a  distinct  entity  ■,  that  it 
must  be  treated  as  such,  and  guided  and  directed  in  the 
work  to  be  done.  The  work  is  possibly  more  effective  if 
the  operator  knows  the  character  of  the  disease  with  which 
the  patient  is  afflicted,  as  he  would  then  be  able  to  give  his 
directions  more  specifically.  But  much  may  be  left  to  in¬ 
stinct,  of  which  the  subjective  mind  is  the  source.  It  seems 
reasonable  to  suppose,  however,  that  if  that  instinct  is  edu¬ 
cated  by  objective  training  it  will  be  all  the  better.  This  is, 
however,  a  question  which  must  be  left  for  future  experi¬ 
mental  solution,  not  enough  being  now  positively  known 
to  warrant  a  statement  as  to  how  far  the  healing  power  of 
the  subjective  mind  is,  or  may  be,  modified  by  the  objective 
knowledge  or  training  of  the  healer. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  the  fact  remains  that  all  men  possess 
the  power  to  alleviate  human  suffering,  to  a  greater  or 
less  degree,  by  the  method  developed  in  the  foregoing 
pages.  For  obvious  reasons  it  is  not  a  method  by  which 
money  can  be  made.  But  it  is  pre-eminently  a  means  of 
laying  up  treasures  where  neither  moth  nor  rust  can  corrupt, 
nor  thieves  break  through  and  steal.  Each  one  has  it  in 
his  power  to  alleviate  the  sufferings  of  his  neighbor,  his 
friend,  or  the  stranger  within  his  gates ;  but  his  compensa¬ 
tion  must  consist  in  the  consciousness  of  doing  good,  and 
in  the  hope  of  that  reward  promised  by  the  Master  to  those 
who  do  their  alms  in  secret.  There  is,  nevertheless,  a  prac¬ 
tical  and  immediate  reward  accompanying  every  effort  to 
heal  the  sick  by  the  method  herein  indicated.  In  consists 
in  this,  —  that  every  earnest  effort  to  convey  therapeutic 


A  NEW  SYSTEM  OF  MENTAL  THERAPEUTICS.  197 


impressions  to  a  patient  during  sleep  is  inevitably  followed 
by  a  dreamless  sleep  on  the  part  of  the  healer.  It  would 
seem  that  the  subjective  mind,  following  the  command  or 
suggestions  of  the  healer,  occupies  itself  with  the  work  it  is 
directed  to  do,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  else ;  and  hence  the 
physical  environment  of  the  sleeper  fails  to  produce  peri- 
plieral  impressions  strong  enough  to  cause  the  dreams  which 
ordinarily  result  from  such  impressions.  Following  the  uni¬ 
versal  law,  it  obeys  the  suggestions  of  the  objective  mind, 
and  persists  in  following  the  line  indicated  until  it  is  re¬ 
called  by  the  awakening  of  the  bodily  senses. 

Moreover,  therapeutic  suggestions  imparted  during  sleep 
inevitably  react  favorably  upon  the  healer;  and  thus  his  own 
health  is  promoted  by  the  act  which  conduces  to  the  health 
of  the  patient.  And  thus  it  is  that  therapeutic  suggestion 
may  be  likened  to  the  “  quality  of  mercy  ”  which  “is  not 
strained,  it  droppeth  as  the  gentle  rain  from  heaven  upon 
the  place  beneath ;  it  is  twice  blessed  :  it  blesseth  him  that 
gives,  and  him  that  takes.” 

It  is  easy  to  foresee  that  when  the  world  once  under¬ 
stands  and  appreciates  the  wonderful  therapeutic  powers 
inherent  in  the  human  soul,  a  great  change  will  be  the 
result.  When  it  is  once  understood  that  the  power  exists 
in  every  human  organism  to  alleviate  physical  suffering  by 
a  method  at  once  so  simple,  so  effective,  and  so  mutually 
Ireneficial,  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  a  large  proportion  of 
the  ills  to  which  flesh  is  heir  will  exist  only  in  history. 

The  most  important  branch  of  psycho-therapeutics  is, 
however,  yet  to  be  discussed.  It  has  been  shown  in  this 
and  former  chapters  that  auto-suggestion  plays  its  subtle 
r6le  in  every  psychological  experiment.  It  has  been  shown 
that  the  subjective  mind  of  an  individual  is  constantly  con¬ 
trolled  by  the  suggestion  of  his  own  objective  mind.  This 
is  the  normal  relation  of  the  two  minds ;  and  when  that 
control  ceases,  the  person  is  insane  just  in  proportion  to  the 
degree  in  which  the  objective  mind  has  abdicated  its  func¬ 
tions.  This  control  is  ordinarily  exercised  unconsciously 
to  the  individual.  That  is  to  say,  we  do  not  ordinarily 


198  THE  LAW  OF  rSYCIJIC  PHENOMENA. 

recognize  llie  operations  of  the  two  minds,  for  the  simple 
reason  that  we  do  not  stop  to  philosophize  upon  the  subject 
of  their  mutual  relations.  But  when  we  once  recognize  the 
fact,  we  have  not  only  arrived  at  the  principle  which  lies  at 
the  foundation  of  all  true  psychological  science,  but  we  are 
prepared  to  accept  the  subsidiary  proposition  which  under¬ 
lies  the  science  of  mental  self-healing.  That  proposition  is, 
that  man  can  control  by  suggestion  the  operations  of  his 
own  subjective  mind,  even  though  the  suggestion  be  in 
direct  contravention  to  his  own  objective  belief.  This  is 
unqualifiedly  true,  even  though  the  suggestion  may  be  con¬ 
trary  to  reason,  experience,  or  the  evidence  of  the  senses. 
A  moment’s  reflection  will  convince  any  one  of  the  truth  of 
this  proposition.  It  is  auto-suggestion  that  fills  our  asylums 
with  monomaniacs.  That  long-continued  and  persistent 
dwelling  upon  a  single  idea  often  results  in  chronic  halluci¬ 
nation,  is  a  fact  within  the  knowledge  of  every  student  of 
mental  science.  That  it  often  happens  that  a  monomaniac 
identifies  himself  with  some  great  personage,  even  with  the 
Deity,  is  a  fact  within  common  knowledge.  What  gives 
rise  to  such  hallucinations  is  not  so  well  known ;  but  every 
student  of  the  pathology  of  insanity  will  verify  the  statement 
that  auto-suggestion  is  the  primary  factor  in  every  case. 
The  patient,  who  is  usually  a  monumental  egotist  to  start 
with,  begins  by  imagining  himself  to  be  a  great  man ;  and 
by  long-continued  dwelling  upon  the  one  thought  he  ends 
by  identifying  himself  with  some  great  historical  character 
whom  he  specially  admires.  If  he  is  afflicted  with  some 
nervous  disorder  which  causes  him  to  pass  easily  and  habit¬ 
ually  into  the  subjective  condition,  the  process  of  fastening 
the  hallucination  upon  his  mind  is  easy  and  rapid,  and  he 
is  soon  a  fit  subject  for  a  lunatic  asylum.  But,  whatever 
physical  condition  may  be  a  necessary  factor  in  producing 
such  hallucinations,  the  fact  remains  that  auto-suggestion  is 
the  primary  cause. 

The  subject  is  introduced  here  merely  to  illustrate  the 
power  and  potency  of  auto-suggestion,  even  when  the  sug¬ 
gestion  is  against  the  evidence  of  reason  and  sense.  It 


A  NEW  SYSTEM  OF  MENTAL  THERAPEUTICS.  1 99 

must  not  be  forgotten  that  an  auto-suggestion  which  pro¬ 
duces  a  hallucination  such  as  has  been  described,  operates 
on  the  lines  of  strongest  resistance  in  nature.  If,  therefore, 
such  results  can  be  produced  when  opposed  by  the  strong¬ 
est  instincts  of  our  nature,  how  much  easier  must  it  be  to 
produce  equally  wonderlul  results  when  operating  in  har¬ 
mony  with  those  instincts,  and,  hence,  on  the  lines  of  least 
resistance. 

It  is  self-evident,  therefore,  that  auto-suggestion  can  be 
employed  to  great  advantage  for  therapeutic  purposes. 
Indeed,  the  power  of  self-help  is  the  most  important  part 
of  mental  therapeutics.  Without  it  the  science  is  of  com¬ 
paratively  little  value  or  benefit  to  mankind.  With  it  goes 
the  power  to  resist  disease,  —  to  prevent  sickness,  as  well 
as  to  cure  it.  The  old  axiom,  that  “  an  ounce  of  preven¬ 
tion  is  worth  a  pound  of  cure,”  holds  good  in  psycho¬ 
therapeutics  as  well  as  in  material  remedies,  and  he  who 
obtains  the  power  to  hold  himself  in  the  mental  attitude 
which  enables  him  to  resist  the  encroachments  of  disease 
has  mastered  the  great  secret  of  mental  medicine.  That  it 
can  be  done  by  any  one  of  ordinary  intelligence,  is  a  fact 
which  has  been  demonstrated  beyond  question.  The  best 
workers  in  the  field  of  Christian  science  give  more  atten¬ 
tion  to  teaching  their  pupils  and  patients  how  to  help  them¬ 
selves  than  they  do  to  instructing  them  how  to  help  others. 
And  this  is  the  secret  of  the  permanence  of  their  cures,  as 
has  been  fully  explained  in  other  chapters  of  this  book. 
The  process  by  which  it  can  be  done  is  as  simple  as  are 
the  laws  which  govern  the  subject-matter. 

The  patient  should  bear  in  mind  the  fundamental  princi¬ 
ples  which  lie  at  the  foundation  of  mental  therapeutics, — 

1.  The  subjective  mind  exercises  complete  control  over 
the  functions  and  sensations  of  the  body. 

2.  The  subjective  mind  is  constantly  amenable  to  control 
by  the  suggestions  of  the  objective  mind. 

3.  These  two  propositions  being  true,  the  conclusion  is 
obvious,  that  the  functions  and  sensations  of  the  body  can 
be  controlled  by  suggestions  of  the  objective  mind. 


200 


THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


The  whole  science  of  psycho-therapeutics  is  embraced  in 
the  foregoing  propositions.  They  contain  all  that  a  patient, 
who  undertakes  to  heal  himself  or  to  ward  oft  the  encroach¬ 
ments  of  disease,  needs  to  know.  The  process  of  making 
a  particular  application  of  these  principles  is  equally  simple, 
and  must  be  obvious  to  the  intelligent  reader.  At  the  risk 
of  repetition,  a  few  general  directions  will  be  given. 

We  will  take,  for  illustration,  a  simple  case  of  nervous 
headache,  and  suppose  that  the  patient  resolves  to  cure 
himself.  He  must,  first  of  all,  remember  that  the  subjec¬ 
tive  mind  is  to  be  treated  precisely  as  though  it  were  a 
separate  and  distinct  entity.  The  suggestion  must  first  be 
made  that  the  headache  is  about  to  cease ;  then,  that  it  is 
already  ceasing ;  and,  finally,  that  it  has  ceased.  These 
suggestions  should  be  made  in  the  form  of  spoken  words, 
and  they  should  be  steadily  persisted  in  until  the  desired 
effect  is  produced.  A  constant  reiteration  of  the  declara¬ 
tion  that  the  head  is  better  will  inevitably  produce  the 
desired  result ;  and,  when  the  effect  is  distinctly  felt,  the 
declaration  should  be  boldly  made  that  the  pain  has  en¬ 
tirely  ceased.  If  any  remnants  of  the  pain  are  felt,  the  fact 
should  be  ignored,  and  the  suggestion  persisted  in  that  it 
has  ceased.  This  should  be  followed  by  the  declaration 
that  there  will  be  no  return  of  the  symptoms ;  and  this 
should  be  made  with  an  air,  tone,  and  feeling  of  perfect 
confidence. 

The  only  practical  difficulty  and  obstacle  in  the  way  of 
success  with  a  beginner  lies  in  the  fact  that  at  first  he  lacks 
confidence.  The  education  of  his  w'hole  life  has  been  such 
as  to  cause  him  to  look  v.'ith  distrust  upon  any  but  material 
remedies,  and  there  is  a  disinclination  to  persist  in  his 
efforts.  But  he  should  remember  that  it  is  the  suggestions 
conveyed  by  this  very  education  that  he  is  now  called  upon 
to  combat,  neutralize,  and  overcome  by  a  stronger  and  more 
emphatic  counter-suggestion.*  If  he  has  the  strength  of 
w'ill  to  persist  until  he  is  cured,  he  w'ill  find  that  the  next 
time  he  tries  it  there  wull  be  much  less  resistance  to  over¬ 
come.  Having  once  triumphed,  the  reasoning  of  his 


A  NE IV  SYSTEM  OE  A/EM TAL  THERAPEUTICS.  20 T 


objective  mind  no  longer  interposes  itself  as  an  obstruction, 
but  concurs  in  the  truth  of  his  suggestions.  He  then  ])os- 
sesses  both  objective  and  subjective  faith  in  his  powers, 
and  he  finds  himself  operating  on  a  line  of  no  resistance 
whatever.  When  he  has  attained  this  point,  the  rest  is 
easy ;  and  he  will  eventually  be  able  to  effect  an  instan¬ 
taneous  cure  of  his  headache,  or  any  other  pain,  the  mo¬ 
ment  he  finds  himself  threatened  with  one.  These  remarks 
apply,  of  course,  to  every  disease  amenable  to  control  by 
mental  processes. 

It  will  be  observed  that  in  the  process  of  applying  the 
principles  of  auto-suggestion  to  the  cure  of  disease  the 
patient  is  not  called  upon  to  tax  his  own  credulity  by  any 
assertion  that  is  not  a  demonstrable  scientific  truth.  He  is 
not  called  upon  to  deny  the  existence  of  matter,  nor  does 
he  find  it  necessary  to  deny  the  reality  of  the  disease  which 
affects  him.  In  short,  he  is  not  called  upon  to  deny  the 
evidence  of  his  senses,  to  assert  a  manifest  impossibility, 
nor  to  maintain  an  exasperating  absurdity  as  a  condition 
precedent  to  his  recovery.  The  fact  that  cures  can  be  made 
and  are  constantly  being  made  by  those  who  instruct  their 
patients  that  a  denial  of  the  existence  of  matter  and  of  the 
reality  of  disease  is  a  necessary  condition  to  their  recovery, 
is  the  strongest  possible  evidence  of  the  truth  of  the  pro])0- 
sition  that  the  subjective  mind  is  constantly  amenable  to 
control  by  the  power  of  suggestion.  For  it  is  a  fundamen¬ 
tal  truth  in  psycho-therapeutics  that  no  cure  ever  was,  or 
ever  can  be,  effected  by  mental  processes  until  the  subjec¬ 
tive  mind  of  the  patient  is  impressed  with  a  belief  in  the 
efficacy  of  the  means  employed.  It  is  obvious,  however, 
that  it  is  more  difficult  to  impress  a  manifest  absurdity 
upon  the  subjective  mind  of  a  man  of  common-sense  than 
it  is  to  impress  him  with  a  belief  in  a  demonstrable  scien¬ 
tific  truth.  Hence  it  is  that,  by  methods  now  in  vogue, 
both  healer  and  patient  are  handicapped  just  in  proportion 
to  the  tax  laid  upon  their  credulity.  The  point  is,  that  in 
impressing  a  patient  with  a  new  scientific  truth  we  should 
seek  to  make  it  as  simple  as  possible,  and  avoid  anything 


202 


THE  LAW  OF  PSYCH IC  PHENOMEHA. 


wliich  will  shock  his  common-sense.  Christ  enjoined  upon 
his  followers  the  simple  scientific  fiict  that  faith  on  their 
part  was  a  condition  precedent  to  their  reception  of  the 
benefits  of  his  healing  power ;  and  he  compelled  them  to 
believe,  by  publicly  demonstrating  that  power.  He  would 
have  had  little  success  among  the  people  with  whom  he  had 
to  deal  if  he  had  begun  his  treatment  by  telling  them  that 
they  had  no  disease  ;  that  leprosy  is  a  figment  of  the  imagi¬ 
nation,  and  has  no  existence  except  in  the  mind ;  or  that 
blindness  is  merely  blindness  of  the  mind,  and  not  of  the 
body ;  and  that  the  body  itself  has  no  existence  except  as 
a  form  of  belief.  He  even  resorted  to  material  remedies,  as 
in  the  case  of  the  blind  man,  when  “  He  spat  on  the  ground, 
and  made  clay  of  the  spittle,  and  he  anointed  the  eyes  of 
the  blind  man  with  the  clay,  and  said  unto  him.  Go,  wash 
in  the  Pool  of  Siloam.  He  went  his  way  therefore,  and 
washed,  and  came  seeing.”  ^ 

The  Christian  scientist  would  doubtless  say  that  the  clay 
and  the  subsequent  washing  in  the  Pool  of  Siloam  did  no 
good,  except  as  they  acted  through  the  mind.  This  may 
be  true ;  but  in  either  case  it  teaches  a  valuable  lesson, 
which  it  would  be  well  for  all  classes  of  mental  healers  to 
remember.  If  the  clay  had  a  curative  effect,  it  shows  that 
the  Master  did  not  disdain  to  employ  material  remedies  as 
an  auxiliary  to  his  healing  power.  If,  on  the  other  hand, 
it  possessed  no  curative  power,  it  shows  that  the  Great 
Healer  did  not  hesitate  to  employ  any  legitimate  means  at 
hand  to  confirm  and  increase  the  faith  of  the  patient. 

But  this  is  a  digression  which  pertains  rather  to  the  gen¬ 
eral  subject  of  mental  healing  than  to  that  of  self-healing, 
which  we  are  discussing.  It  is  believed  that  the  few  simple 
rules  herein  laid  down  will  enable  any  one  of  ordinary  in¬ 
telligence  to  become  proficient,  by  a  little  practice,  in  the 
science  of  self-healing.  It  is  not  a  mere  theory,  without 
practice,  which  has  been  here  developed.  It  has  been 
demonstrated  over  and  over  again  to  be  eminently  practical, 
not  only  as  a  means  of  healing  disease,  but  as  a'  means  of 
^  John  ix.  6. 


A  NEW  SYSTEM  OF  MENTAL  THERAPEUTICS.  203 


warding  off  its  encroachments.  Indeed,  its  chief  value  will 
eventually  be  found  to  consist  in  the  almost  unlimited 
power  which  it  gives  one  to  protect  himself  from  contract¬ 
ing  disease.  To  do  that  it  is  only  necessary  to  hold  one’s 
self  in  the  mental  attitude  of  denying  the  power  of  disease 
to  obtain  the  mastery  over  him.  When  the  patient  recog¬ 
nizes  the  first  symptoms  of  approaching  illness,  he  should  at 
once  commence  a  vigorous  course  of  therapeutic  auto¬ 
suggestion.  He  will  find  prevention  much  easier  than 
cure  ;  and  by  persistently  following  such  a  course  he  will 
soon  discover  that  he  possesses  a  perfect  mastery  over  his 
own  health.  In  this  connection  it  must  not  be  forgotten 
that  the  method  of  healing  during  sleep  is  as  applicable  to 
self-healing  as  it  is  to  healing  others.  Indeed,  perfect  rest 
and  recuperative  slumber  can  be  obtained  under  almost  any 
circumstances  at  the  word  of  command.  Dreams  can  be 
controlled  in  this  way.  If  one  is  troubled  by  distressing  or 
harassing  dreams,  from  whatever  cause,  he  can  change 
their  current,  or  prevent  them  altogether,  by  energetically 
commanding  his  subjective  mind  to  do  so.  It  is  especially 
efficacious  for  this  purpose  to  direct  his  subjective  mind  to 
employ  itself  in  healing  some  sick  friend.  If  one  habitually 
does  this  at  the  time  of  going  to  sleep,  he  will  not  only  be 
certain  to  obtain  recuperative  sleep  for  himself,  but  he  will 
procure  that  contentment  and  peace  of  mind  which  always 
result  from  a  consciousness  of  doing  good  to  his  fellow- 
creatures.  The  exercise  of  the  power  to  heal  in  this  way 
is  never  a  tax  upon  the  vital  energies  of  the  healer,  but 
always  redounds  to  his  own  benefit  as  well  as  to  that  of  the 
patient.  The  reason  of  this  is  obvious.  The  normal  con¬ 
dition  of  the  subjective  mind  during  the  sleep  of  the  body 
and  the  quiescence  of  the  objective  faculties  is  that  of  con¬ 
stant  activity.  This  activity,  under  ordinary  conditions, 
entails  no  loss  of  vital  power  on  the  part  of  the  sleeper. 
On  the  contrary,  that  is  the  period  of  his  rest  and  the 
means  of  his  recuperation.  If  the  activities  of  his  subjec¬ 
tive  mind  are  directed  into  pleasant  channels,  his  bodily 
rest  is  perfect,  and  his  recuperation  complete. 


THE  LAW  OF  TSYCHIC  FHENOMEHA. 


It  is  for  this  reason  that  the  method  of  healing  during 
sleep  is  better  for  all  concerned  than  any  other  system  of 
mental  healing  yet  discovered.  It  follows  the  lines  of 
nature,  in  that  it  employs  the  subjective  powers  at  a  time 
when  they  are  normally  active  ;  and  it  employs  them  in 
such  a  way  that  the  ordinary  peripheral  impressions,  which 
often  disturb  the  sleeper  and  produce  unpleasant  dreams, 
are  overcome  by  a  more  potent  suggestion.  Any  other 
method  of  mental  healing,  where  the  subjective  powers  of 
the  healer  are  called  into  action,  entails  a  certain  loss  of 
vital  power  on  his  part,  for  the  simple  reason  that  subjec¬ 
tive  activity  during  waking  moments  is  abnormal.  It  is  true 
that  when  the  work  is  not  carried  to  excess  the  physical 
exhaustion  may  not  be  perceptible ;  but  any  Christian 
scientist  will  testify  that  any  great  amount  of  effort  in  the 
line  of  his  work  produces  great  physical  exhaustion.  And 
it  is  noticeable  that  this  exhaustion  ensues  in  exact  propor¬ 
tion  to  the  success  of  his  treatment.  This  success  being  in 
proportion  to  the  subjective  power  exerted,  it  is  reasonable 
to  infer  that  subjective  activity  during  waking  hours  and 
physical  exhaustion  bear  to  each  other  the  relation  of  cause 
and  effect. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE  PHENOMENA  OF  SPIRITISM. 

If  a  Man  die,  shall  he  live  again?  —  The  Problem  not  solved  by 
Spiritistic  Phenomena. — The  Phenomena  admitted.  —  Their  Super¬ 
natural  Origin  denied.  —  Explained  by  the  Hypothesis.  —  Subsidi¬ 
ary  Hypothesis.  —  An  Intelligent  Dynamic  Force. —  Its  Character¬ 
istics. —  Limited  by  Medium’s  Intelligence. —  It  is  controlled  by 
Suggestion.  —  Phenomena  fail  in  Presence  of  Scepticism.  —  Rea¬ 
sons. —  Mediumistic  Frauds.  —  The  Primary  Lesson  in  Spiritistic 
Investigation.  —  Mediums  not  necessarily  dishonest.  —  Their  Honest 
Belief  in  the  Phenomena.  —  Suggestion  explains  all.  —  Illustrations 
from  Hypnotism. — Convincing  Character  of  Alleged  Communi 
cations.  —  Telepathic  Explanations.  —  General  Conclusions. 

'^HE  next  subject  which  claims  our  attention  in  connec- 
*  tion  with  the  hypothesis  under  consideration  is  that  of 
modern  spiritism.  It  is  approached  with  much  diffitlence 
and  some  misgivings,  not  because  of  any  doubt  as  to  the 
applicability  of  the  hypothesis  to  the  vast  range  of  so-called 
spiritual  phenomena,  but  because  of  the  transcendent  inter¬ 
est  and  imjiortance  of  the  subject  to  all  mankind.  It  can¬ 
not  be  forgotten  that  millions  of  human  beings  base  their 
hopes  of  a  life  beyond  the  grave  upon  their  belief  that  in 
the  phenomena  of  spiritism  they  have  tangible  evidence 
of  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  and  that  by  means  of  such 
phenomena  they  can  be  put  into  communication  with  the 
spirits  of  the  loved  ones  who  have  gone  before.  The  fact 
cannot  be  ignored  that  there  are  millions  of  stricken  hearts 
whose  wounds  have  been  healed  by  the  consolation  afforded 
by  that  conviction.  The  great  question,  “  If  a  man  die, 
shall  he  live  again?”  has  been  by  these  phenomena  satis¬ 
factorily  answered  for  many  whom  revealed  religion  failed 


206  the  law  of  psychic  phenomena. 

to  satisfy,  for  many  whose  reasoning  powers  have  failed  to 
grasp  the  logic  of  the  theologian.  It  were  an  unwelcome 
task  to  throw  a  shade  of  doubt  upon  the  validity  of  evidence 
which  to  many  seems  to  be  “  confirmation  strong  as  proofs 
of  Holy  Writ ;  ”  and  if  in  the  perusal  of  the  following  pages 
such  doubt  arises,  the  reader  is  begged  to  discriminate 
between  the  question  of  the  validity  of  evidence  and  the 
question  of  fact.  For,  be  it  remembered,  I  shall  not  under¬ 
take  to  prove  that  the  souls  of  men  do  not  live  after  the 
death  of  the  body.  That  question  stands  just  where  it  has 
always  stood.  It  is  a  problem  which,  outside  of  revela¬ 
tion,  is  no  nearer  a  solution  than  it  was  when  Job  pro¬ 
pounded  the  momentous  question.  Neither  will  I  under¬ 
take  to  say  that  the  spirits  of  the  dead  do  not  and  cannot 
communicate  with  the  living.  I  do  not  know.  But  I  do 
undertake  to  say,  and  will  attempt  to  prove,  that  the  phe¬ 
nomena  of  spiritism,  so-called,  do  not  constitute  valid  evi¬ 
dence  of  the  ability  of  spirits  of  the  dead  to  hold  intercourse 
with  the  living.  In  doing  so,  no  attempt  will  be  made  to 
deny  the  phenomena  of  spiritism.  On  the  contrary,  I  shall 
not.  only  admit  the  possibility  of  every  phenomenon  alleged 
by  any  respectable  number  of  reputable  witnesses  to  have 
occurred,  but  I  shall  also  assume  the  substantial  accuracy 
of  the  general  statements  made  by  spiritists  regarding  the 
leading  phenomena  of  spiritism.  But  I  shall  attempt  to 
explain  their  origin  on  other  grounds  than  the  supposition 
that  they  are  caused  by  the  spirits  of  the  dead.  In  other 
words,  I  admit  the  alleged  phenomena,  but  deny  the  alleged 
cause. 

I  will  not  waste  time,  however,  by  attempting  to  prove 
by  experiments  of  my  own,  or  of  others,  that  such  phe¬ 
nomena  do  occur.  It  is  too  late  for  that.  The  facts  are 
too  well  known  to  the  civilized  world  to  require  proofs  at 
this  time.  The  man  who  denies  the  phenomena  of  spirit¬ 
ism  to-day  is  not  entitled  to  be  called  a  sceptic,  he  is 
simply  ignorant ;  and  it  would  be  a  hopeless  task  to  attempt 
to  enlighten  him.  I  shall  indulge  in  the  hope,  however, 
that  by  explaining  the  origin  of  the  phenomena  on  rational 


THE  PHENOMENA  OF  SPIRITISM.  20/ 

principles,  and  thus  removing  them  from  the  realm  of  the 
supernatural,  those  who  now  assume  to  be  sceptical  may  be 
induced  to  investigate  for  themselves.  It  is  easy  to  deny 
the  existence  of  that  for  which  we  cannot  account  by  refer¬ 
ence  to  known  laws,  and  it  is  easy  to  believe  in  that  which 
can  be  thus  explained.  This  is  especially  true  in  regard  to 
phenomena  which  are  popularly  attributed  to  a  supernatural 
origin.  Modern  scientists  have  an  easy  way  of  treating 
such  phenomena,  which  consists  in  denying  their  existence 
and  refusing  to  investigate.  Such  men  would  plug  their 
own  ears  and  deny  the  phenomenon  of  thunder  if  they 
could  not  account  for  it  by  reference  to  laws  with  which 
they  are  familiar.  And  such  a  proceeding  would  be  no 
more  senseless  than,  at  this  day,  to  deny  the  phenomena  of 
spiritism. 

In  justice,  however,  to  those  scientists  who  have  sought 
to  investigate  the  subject,  and  have  failed  to  witness  the 
phenomena  promised,  it  must  be  said  that  in  many  in¬ 
stances  their  failure  is  attributable,  not  to  any  fault  of  their 
own,  or  lack  of  earnest  purpose  on  their  part,  but  to  a 
want  of  knowledge  of  the  fundamental  laws  which  pertain 
to  the  production  of  such  phenomena.  The  reasons  for 
the  frequent  failure  to  produce  psychic  phenomena  in  pres¬ 
ence  of  avowed  sceptics  has  been  fully  discussed  in  a  pre¬ 
vious  chapter  of  this  book,  to  which  the  reader  is  referred. 
But  at  the  risk  of  repetition  they  will  be  restated  in  their 
proper  place  in  this  chapter,  as  they  pertain  to  the  subject 
of  so-called  spirit  phenomena. 

d  he  laws  which  govern  the  production  of  the  phenomena 
under  consideration  are  precisely  the  same  as  those  which 
pertain  to  all  the  other  phenomena  which  have  been  dis¬ 
cussed  ;  and  the  fundamental  propositions  of  our  hypothesis 
apply  with  equal  force  to  them  all.  .^gain,  the  reader  is 
asked  to  recall  those  propositions,  in  order  that  their  force 
and  logical  seciuence  may  remain  clear  to  his  mind  in  this 
connection.  They  are  :  — 

I.  The  mind  of  man  is  dual  in  its  nature,  —  objective 
and  subjective. 


208  rilE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


2.  The  subjective  mind  is  constantly  controlled  by 
suggestion. 

'I'hese  two  propositions  would  seem  to  have  been  so  well 
established  as  to  need  no  further  elucidation  at  this  time. 
The  subsidiary  proposition,  which  applies  to  the  phenomena 
under  consideration,  is  that,  — 

3.  The  subjective  mind,  or  entity,  possesses  physical 
power ;  that  is,  the  power  to  make  itself  heard  and  felt,  and 
to  move  ponderable  objects. 

This  may  seem  at  first  glance  to  be  begging  the  question ; 
but  its  truth  must  be  assumed  provisionally,  for  the  sake 
of  the  argument  which  follows.  It  will  readily  be  seen 
that  if  those  three  propositions  can  be  established,  all  the 
physical  phenomena  of  spiritism  can  be  accounted  for  on 
the  ground  that  living  man  possesses  inherently  the  power 
to  produce  them.  And  this  is  the  position  which  we  must 
assume,  for  it  appears  to  be  the  truth. 

It  must  be  acknowledged  by  all  who  have  witnessed, 
under  test  conditions,  any  of  the  physical  phenomena,  that 
there  is  a  dynamic  force  residing  somewhere  that  is  capable 
of  moving  ponderable  objects  without  physical  contact, 
and  that  this  force,  whatever  it  is,  or  from  whatever  source 
it  emanates,  possesses  intelligence,  oftentimes  to  a  remark¬ 
able  degree.  Now,  this  intelligent  force  either  emanates 
from  the  spirits  of  the  dead,  or  it  does  not.  If  it  does  not, 
it  necessarily  follows  that  it  emanates  from  the  living.  That 
this  last  supposition  is  the  true  one  is  evidenced  by  many 
of  the  characteristics  of  the  intelligence  which  it  manifests, 
among  which  the  following  are  prominent :  — 

It  is  essentially  a  human  intelligence,  and  neither  rises 
above  nor  sinks  below  the  ordinary  intelligence  of  humanity. 

The  intelligence  is  always  on  a  level  with  that  of  the 
medium  through  whom  it  manifests  itself.  That  is,  it  never 
rises  so  far  above  that  of  the  medium  as  to  preclude  the 
possibility  of  its  having  its  origin  in  the  medium’s  subjective 
mind.  That  it  often  rises  above  the  medium’s  known  objec¬ 
tive  intelligence,  is  well  known  and  admitted.  But  we  have 
already  seen  what  remarkable  powers  the  subjective  mind 


THE  PHENOMENA  OF  SPIRITISM.  209 

possesses  in  certain  lines  of  intellectual  activity,  and  with 
what  limitations  it  is  hedged  about ;  and  we  find  that  the 
intellectual  feats  of  mediums  possess  all  the  characteristics 
belonging  to  subjective  intelligence,  —  the  same  wonderful 
powers,  and  the  same  limitations.  That  so-called  spirit 
communications  always  correspond  to  the  nature  of  the 
medium’s  mind  and  character,  and  are  limited  by  his 
capacity,  is  admitted  by  all  the  ablest  writers  on  spiritism  ; 
and  their  greatest  ingenuity  is  taxed  to  account  for  the  fact. 
Alleged  communications  from  the  greatest  philosophers  who 
have  gone  before,  amount  to  the  merest  twaddle  when  fil¬ 
tered  through  an  ignorant  medium. 

Again,  we  find  that  the  intelligence  is  controllable  by 
the  power  of  suggestion.  This  is  shown  in  the  readiness 
with  which  “  spirits  ”  can  be  made  to  respond  to  calls  made 
upon  them,  whether  they  have  any  real  existence  or  not. 
It  is  well  known  that  any  one  can  as  readily  obtain  a  com¬ 
munication  from  an  imaginary  person  as  from  a  real  one, 
from  a  living  person  as  from  the  dead,  providing  the  me¬ 
dium  does  not  happen  to  know  the  facts.  The  writer  has 
had  frequent  and  very  affectionate  communications  from 
an  imaginary  dead  sister,  and  has  occasionally  had  a  very 
touching  communication  from  himself,  the  medium  believ¬ 
ing  the  name  to  represent  a  dead  brother.  The  fact  that 
he  never  had  either  brother  or  sister  made  the  communica¬ 
tion  all  the  more  convincing. 

This  perfect  amenability  to  control  by  suggestion  is 
evinced  in  another  most  remarkable  way.  It  is  well  known 
to  every  person  who  has  been  in  the  habit  of  attending 
spiritual  s^-ances  how  necessary  it  is  that  “  harmonious  con¬ 
ditions  ”  should  prevail.  The  very  presence  of  an  avowed 
sceptic  will  often  prevent  any  manifestations.  It  frequently 
hapjjens  that  some  one  present  remarks,  in  a  despairing  tone, 
that  he  does  not  expect  any  manifestations,  “  because  it  al¬ 
ways  happens  that  when  I  am  present  no  communications 
can  be  had.”  ^Vhensuch  a  remark  is  made,  the  chances  are 
ten  to  one  that  the  “spirits”  will  refuse  to  respond.  Why 
this  happens,  spiritists  have  laboriously  attempted  to  explain, 

II 


210 


THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


but  never  satisfactorily,  except  to  themselves.  The  fact  that 
a  spirit,  possessing  sufficient  power  to  move  a  table,  raise  a 
piano  to  the  ceiling,  or  levitate  the  medium,  should  be  para¬ 
lyzed  in  presence  of  one  who  does  not  believe  in  spirits,  is 
simply  inexplicable,  except  upon  the  one  hypothesis,  namely, 
that  the  power  evoked  is  that  of  the  subjective  mind  of  the 
medium,  which  is  amenable  to  control  by  the  mysterious 
power  of  suggestion.  It  is  inconceivable  that  the  spirit  of 
Napoleon  Bonaparte,  who,  when  living,  swayed  the  destin¬ 
ies  of  nations,  used  kings  and  popes  as  his  puppets,  and  led 
his  hosts  to  successful  battle  against  the  combined  armies 
of  Europe,  should,  when  dead,  shrink,  abashed  and  power¬ 
less,  in  presence  of  some  one  man  who  happens  not  to 
believe  in  spiritism.  But  it  can  be  readily  understood  how 
a  seance  should  prove  a  failure  when  we  assume  that  the 
power  that  moves  the  table  or  writes  the  communications 
is  exercised  by  the  subjective  intelligence  of  the  medium, 
and  that  the  presence  of  an  avowed  sceptic  operates  as  an 
ever-present  and  all-potent  suggestion  that  the  promised 
manifestations  are  impossible  in  his  presence.  It  is  in  strict 
accordance  with  the  universal  law  of  suggestion  that  such 
should  be  the  result.  It  is  this  constant  amenability  to  con¬ 
trol  by  suggestion  which  always  hampers  mediums  when 
they  are  giving  test  seances  in  the  presence  of  sceptical  in¬ 
vestigators  ;  and  I  undertake  to  say  that  no  medium  ever 
was,  or  ever  can  be,  powerful  enough  to  produce  his  phe¬ 
nomena  under  test  conditions  in  presence  of  a  hostile  and 
aggressively  sceptical  investigating  committee.  It  is  no 
fault  of  the  medium  that  this  is  the  case,  and  it  is  no  test 
whatever  of  the  genuineness  of  his  phenomena.  But  it  is 
presumptive,  if  not  conclusive,  evidence  that  the  source  of 
his  phenomena  resides  within  himself,  and  hence  is  amen¬ 
able  to  the  universal  law  which  governs  the  action  of  all 
subjective  intelligence  and  power.  Neither  is  it  any  reflec¬ 
tion  upon  the  sincerity  of  the  investigator  that  he  fails  to 
witness  the  phenomena  that  have  been  promised.  His 
ignorance  of  the  law  which  governs  the  subject-matter, 
together  with  his  desire  to  be  frank  and  honest  enough  with 


THE  PHENOMENA  OF  SPIRITISM. 


21 1 


the  medium  to  put  him  in  possession  of  a  knowledge  of  his 
sentiments  and  prejudices,  leads  him  unwittingly  to  place 
an  insuperable  barrier  in  the  way  of  success.  It  unfortu¬ 
nately  happens  that  many  professional  mediums,  despairing 
of  success  in  producing  the  genuine  phenomena,  and  more 
than  ordinarily  anxious  to  earn  the  reward  of  success,  will, 
under  such  circumstances,  resort  to  fraud  and  legerde¬ 
main.  The  temptation  to  do  so  is  great  when  he  reflects 
upon  how  much  is  at  stake,  the  immediate  monetary  reward 
promised  being  the  least  consideration.  His  professional 
pride,  his  love  of  approbation,  his  hope  of  future  fame  and 
emolument  in  case  he  succeeds  in  convincing  a  sceptical 
scientific  investigator,  —  all  operate  to  constitute  a  tempta¬ 
tion  too  great  to  be  always  successfully  withstood.  Besides, 
he  knows  that,  under  favorable  conditions,  he  can  produce 
the  genuine  phenomena,  that  he  has  produced  them  again 
and  again,  and  he  quiets  his  conscience  by  reflecting  that 
it  can  do  no  harm  to  resort  to  legerdemain  to  simulate  that 
which  he  knows  to  have  a  genuine  existence. 

In  this  connection  it  may  be  well  to  state  what  must 
already  be  obvious  to  the  intelligent  reader ;  namely,  that 
the  only  way  to  secure  the  production  of  genuine  phe¬ 
nomena  is,  first,  to  secure  the  confidence  of  the  medium  by 
assuming  to  be  in  hearty  sympathy  with  him,  and  by  giving 
him  to  understand  that  you  thoroughly  believe  in  his  hon¬ 
esty  and  his  power  to  produce  genuine  phenomena.  Give 
him  all  the  time  he  wants,  and  assure  him  that  you  are  in 
no  hurry ;  remembering  always  that  quiet  passivity  and  un¬ 
disturbed  serenity  of  mind  on  the  part  of  a  medium  is  an 
indispensable  prerequisite  to  success,  not  only  in  producing 
the  phenomena,  but  in  entering  the  subjective  condition. 
It  is  precisely  the  same  in  this  respect  as  it  is  in  hypnotism. 
The  condition  of  the  medium,  when  in  a  trance  or  partial 
trance,  is  precisely  the  condition  of  a  hypnotized  person, 
and  he  is  subject  to  the  same  laws,  and  the  same  conditions 
are  necessary  and  indispensable  to  his  success.  Plvery 
hypnotist  knows  that  it  would  be  madness  to  antagonize  a 
hypnotic  subject  by  suggesting  to  him  in  advance  that  he  is 


212 


THE  LA  IV  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


an  impostor,  or  that  hypnotic  phenomena  are  mere  humbug, 
and  then  expect  to  hypnotize  him  and  produce  the  phe¬ 
nomena.  When  investigators  realize  this  one  fact  they  will 
have  taken  the  primary  lesson  in  spiritistic  investigation. 
Every  one  who  understands  the  first  principles  of  hypnotism 
knows  what  folly  it  would  be  to  subject  the  science  to  the 
test  of  allowing  a  sceptical  investigator  to  take  a  subject  in 
hand  and  begin  the  operation  of  trying  to  hypnotize  him  by 
assuring  him  that  hypnotism  is  imposture,  and  all  subjects 
are  mere  pretenders.  And  yet  one  who  investigates  hypno¬ 
tism  in  that  way  does,  in  effect,  precisely  what  the  sceptical 
investigator  of  spiritistic  phenomena  does  when  he  avows 
his  scepticism  to  the  medium  in  advance.  If  investigators 
would  observe  the  rule  here  suggested,  and  always  endeavor 
to  put  the  medium  at  his  ease  and  accede  to  all  the  con¬ 
ditions  prescribed  by  him,  instead  of  insisting  upon  test 
conditions  of  their  own  devising,  they  would  soon  find  that 
they  would  witness  all  the  phenomena  desired,  and  under 
conditions  that  preclude  the  possibility  of  fraud  or  leger¬ 
demain.  Any  other  course  almost  of  necessity  defeats  the 
object  sought. 

It  will  be  seen,  therefore,  that  a  failure  to  produce  phe¬ 
nomena  at  a  given  time  does  not  necessarily  indicate  fraud 
on  the  part  of  the  medium ;  and  in  strict  justice  to  profes¬ 
sional  mediums,  who  as  a  class  have  been  brought  into  dis¬ 
repute  by  the  fraudulent  practices  of  some  of  their  number, 
it  must  be  said  that  the  detection  of  a  medium  in  fraudulent 
practices  does  not  per  se  prove  that  he  was  consciously 
guilty ;  for  it  is  an  undoubted  fact  that  when  a  medium  is 
unconscious,  and  his  subjective  mind  is  in  control,  it  often 
acts  capriciously,  and  presumably  fraudulent  practices  might 
be  indulged  in  without  the  objective  knowledge  or  consent 
of  the  medium.  Therefore,  until  the  laws  governing  the 
subject-matter  are  better  understood,  we  should  extend  the 
broadest  charity  over  the  professional  medium,  except  in 
cases  where  it  is  discovered  that  the  paraphernalia  neces¬ 
sary  for  the  perpetration  of  fraud  have  been  prepared  by 
the  medium  in  advance. 


THE  PHENOMENA  OF  SPIRITISM. 


213 


At  this  point  the  question  will  naturally  be  asked,  “  How 
can  a  medium,  professional  or  otherwise,  be  entitled  to 
credit  for  honesty,  who  represents  himself  as  being  able  to 
hold  communion  with  the  spirits  of  the  dead,  or  to  be  an 
instrument  through  which  communications  from  spirits 
of  the  dead  can  be  obtained,  if,  in  point  of  fact,  such 
communications  have  their  origin  wholly  within  his  own 
personality?  ” 

This  is  perhaps  the  most  pertinent  and  the  most  far- 
reaching  question  that  could  be  formulated  in  regard  to 
the  hypothesis  under  consideration.  If  it  could  not  be 
fairly  answered  from  a  purely  scientific  standpoint,  our 
hypothesis  would  not  be  worthy  of  further  discussion ;  for 
it  is  simply  impossible  to  presuppose  that  all  the  immense 
number  of  mediums,  professional  and  private,  who  may 
be  found  in  all  ranks  of  society  throughout  the  civilized 
world,  are  deliberately  and  consciously  perpetrating  a  fraud 
upon  mankind.  On  the  contrary,  I  here  take  occasion 
to  say  that  there  is  no  system  of  religious  belief  which  is 
so  thoroughly  fortified  by  facts  as  that  of  spiritism,  when 
its  phenomena  are  viewed  from  the  standpoint  of  the  inves¬ 
tigator  who  is  unacquainted  with  the  latest  scientific  dis¬ 
coveries  in  the  domain  of  experimental  psychology.  But 
with  that  knowledge  in  possession,  the  evidential  value  of 
the  phenomena  of  spiritism  is  vastly  depreciated,  and  the 
high  character  of  the  medium  for  truth  and  sincerity  loses 
all  its  weight  as  a  factor  in  the  case. 

'Fhe  intelligent  reader  has  already  anticipated  the  answer 
to  the  foregoing  question.  It  is  simply  this  :  that  the  sub¬ 
jective  mind  of  the  medium,  being  controlled  by  suggestion, 
believes  itself  to  be  the  spirit  of  any  deceased  person  whose 
name  is  suggested.  It  has  been  educated  to  that  belief 
through  the  objective  education  and  environment  of  the 
individual.  It  is,  by  the  laws  of  its  being,  absolutely  con¬ 
trolled  by  the  objective  belief  of  the  medium,  and  the 
suggestions  embraced  in  that  belief.  It  is  true  that  it  often 
acts  capriciously  and  independently,  but  it  is  always  in 
pursuance  of  the  auto-suggestion  or  belief  of  the  medium 


314  the  law  of  psychic  phenomena. 

that  it  is  an  extraneous  and,  therefore,  an  independent 
power. 

No  one  who  has  witnessed  even  the  stage  exhibitions  of 
the  phenomena  of  hypnotism  will  doubt  the  substantial  truth 
of  this  proposition.  An  intelligent  subject  can  be  made  to 
assume  any  number  of  characters,  diverse  as  the  antipodes, 
and  in  each  one  he  will  imitate  the  original  in  thought, 
word,  and  action  with  perfect  fidelity,  so  far  as  he  knows 
the  character,  habits,  and  idiosyncrasies  of  the  individual 
personated,  firmly  believing  himself  to  be  the  individual  he 
represents.  He  may,  with  the  same  facility,  be  transformed 
into  an  angel  or  a  devil  or  an  animal ;  and  he  will  never 
doubt  the  truth  of  the  suggestion,  or  fail  to  act  the  charac¬ 
ter  suggested,  so  far  as  it  is  physically  possible.  These  facts 
are  well  known  to  all  hypnotists,  as  well  as  to  all  who  witness 
the  common  stage  exhibitions  of  the  phenomena.  Some 
stage  hypnotists  have  much  difficulty  in  preventing  their 
subjects  from  exhibiting  spiritistic  phenomena  on  the  plat¬ 
form.  This  was  a  common  experience  of  Professor  Cad- 
well,  an  American  performer,  who  was  himself  a  spiritist. 
When  it  became  known  to  his  audiences  and  subjects  that 
the  latter  were  liable  to  be  “controlled  by  spirits,”  the  trouble 
became  very  marked,  and  the  professor  was  greatly  annoyed 
by  the  frequency  with  which  his  subjects  were  seized  upon 
by  “passing  spirits,”  and  made  to  receive  communications 
and  perform  other  antics  in  the  name  of  the  spirits  of  their 
dead  acquaintances.  The  phenomena  exhibited  through 
these  subjects  were  identical  with  those  shown  through  ordi¬ 
nary  mediums,  and  indeed  some  of  his  best  subjects  after¬ 
wards  became  successful  professional  mediums.  That  the 
liability  of  the  professor’s  subjects  to  lapse  into  mediumship 
was  the  result  of  suggestion  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  Pro¬ 
fessor  Carpenter,  who  was  Cadwell’s  pupil,  and  operated  by 
his  methods,  and  was  in  every  sense  his  peer  as  an  operator, 
never  had  any  trouble  with  mediumistic  phenomena,  for  the 
simple  reason  that  he  was  careful  to  avoid  suggesting  the 
idea  to  his  subjects  that  such  a  thing  was  possible.  In  point 
of  fact  it  is  well  known  to  many  hypnotists  that  all  the  phe- 


THE  PHENOMENA  OF  SPIRITISM. 


215 


nomena  of  spiritism  can  be  reproduced  through  their  sub¬ 
jects  by  simply  suggesting  to  them  that  they  are  under  the 
control  of  spirits.  Of  course  it  may  be  said  that  the  spirits 
do  actually  take  possession  of  a  hypnotic  subject  when  per¬ 
mitted  to  do  so,  and  that  it  is  the  genuine  control  of  spirits 
after  all.  The  answer  to  this  is  that  it  is  also  just  as  easy 
to  obtain  communications  from  a  living  person  through  a 
hypnotic  subject  as  from  a  dead  one,  and  from  an  imaginary 
person  as  from  a  real  one,  by  merely  making  the  proper 
suggestion.  I'he  same  is  true  of  any  medium,  for  that  mat¬ 
ter,  as  will  presently  be  shown. 

It  is  obvious,  therefore,  that  the  universal  law  of  sugges¬ 
tion  operates  upon  the  subjective  mind  of  a  medium  with 
the  same  force  and  certainty  as  upon  all  others.  He  is  in 
the  subjective,  or  hypnotic,  condition.  The  suggestion  that 
he  is  about  to  be  controlled  by  the  spirits  of  the  dead  is 
ever  present  to  his  mind,  and  is  all  potent.  It  is  a  part  of 
his  education.  It  is  his  religious  belief.  No  other  expla¬ 
nation  of  the  mysterious  phenomena  is  known  to  him.  He 
knows  only  that  he  is  moved  by  a  power,  an  intelligence, 
over  which  he  exerts  no  conscious  control.  It  gives  utter¬ 
ance  to  thoughts  beyond  his  comprehension,  and  possesses 
knowledge  of  matters  of  which  he  consciously  knows  nothing. 
His  conclusion  is,  first  that  the  intelligence  is  something 
extraneous  to  his  personality,  and  secondly  that  it  must  be 
that  of  an  inhabitant  of  another  world.  From  his  stand¬ 
point  it  is  the  only  rational  conclusion.  His  hereditary 
belief  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul  confirms  it.  His  read¬ 
ing  of  the  Bible  sanctions  the  belief  in  the  power  of  spirits 
to  hold  communion  with  the  living.  His  hope  of  a  life 
beyond  the  grave,  and  his  longing  to  hold  communion  with 
the  loved  and  lost,  combine  to  give  his  conclusions  a  wel¬ 
come  reception  in  the  chambers  of  his  mind. 

A  more  potent  suggestion  was  never  forced  upon  the  sub¬ 
jective  mind  of  man  than  this ;  and  in  obedience  to  the 
universal  law,  it  must  be  believed  by  the  medium’s  subjec¬ 
tive  mind,  and  acted  upon  accordingly.  And  the  subjective 
mind  does  believe  the  suggestion  most  implicitly.  If  it  did 


2i6  the  law  of  psychic  phenomena. 


not,  the  law  of  suggestion  would  have  no  place  in  experi¬ 
mental  psychology,  and  all  the  conclusions  deducible  there¬ 
from  would  have  to  be  revised.  So  believing,  it  follows  that, 
when  questioned,  it  will  unhesitatingly  affirm  that  it  is  the 
spirit  of  whatever  person  is  suggested ;  and  so  far  as  the 
medium  knows  the  character  or  antecedents  of  the  spirit 
invoked,  that  spirit  will  be  personated  with  all  the  pre¬ 
ternatural  acumen  characteristic  of  subjective  mental 
activity. 

If  the  chain  of  reasoning  by  which  the  medium  and  his 
friends  have  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  the  phenomena 
must  proceed  from  disembodied  spirits  seems  to  them  to  be 
perfect,  their  conviction  rises  to  the  dignity  of  a  certainty, 
in  their  estimation,  when  the  supposed  spirit  begins  to  for¬ 
ward  alleged  communications  from  the  hypothetical  border¬ 
land  of  another  world.  They  find  that  his  alleged  “control  ” 
is  able  to  tell  them  secrets  which  they  supposed  to  be  safe 
in  their  own  custody,  or  perhaps  only  known  to  themselves 
and  the  deceased  whose  spirit  has  been  invoked.  He  will 
describe  the  character  and  personal  appearance  of  deceased 
persons  whom  it  was  impossible  that  he  should  have  known 
in  life,  sometimes  even  giving  their  names  and  ages ;  he  will 
tell  of  incidents  in  their  career  known  only  to  the  person 
for  whose  benefit  the  communication  is  given. 

If  the  sitter  is  sceptical,  and  has  learned  something  of 
telepathy,  his  ready  objection  is  that  all  this  is  “  mind¬ 
reading.”  But  presently  the  medium  will  describe  some 
one  of  whom  the  sitter  has  not  thought  for  years,  who  was 
utterly  unknown  to  the  medium,  and  of  whom  he  never 
heard.  It  is  then  that  the  sitter  is  confounded.  His  tele¬ 
pathic  explanation  is  exploded,  for  he  “was  not  thinking 
of  the  deceased  at  all  \  it  could  not,  therefore,  be  mind¬ 
reading,”  he  declares,  with  all  the  enthusiasm  of  a  new 
convert  whose  last  objection  has  been  answered. 

There  is  no-'inore  common  or  popular  explanation  of  cer¬ 
tain  phases  of  spiritistic  phenomena  than  attributing  them 
to  mind-reading.  When  a  medium  relates  to  you  incidents 
of  your  life  of  which  you  know  he  has  no  previous  knowl- 


THE  PHENOMENA  OF  SPIRITISM. 


217 


edge,  the  most  obvious  explanation  is  that  he  reads  your 
mind,  —  that  is,  if  you  do  not  believe  that  he  is  controlled  by 
spirits  ■,  and  you  are  undoubtedly  right.  But  when  he  tells 
you  of  things  that  you  had  forgotten,  and  describes  persons 
of  whom  you  are  not  thinking,  you  jump  to  the  conclusion 
that  thought-reading  does  not  explain  that  particular  phe¬ 
nomenon.  And  it  is  just  here  that  you  make  a  mistake,  for 
the  reason  that  you  do  not  understand  the  first  principles 
of  mind-reading.  But  when  it  is  once  understood  that  mind¬ 
reading  is  the  communion  of  two  subjective  minds,  and  that 
the  objective  or  conscious  thoughts  of  the  sitter  have  no 
necessary  effect  upon  the  character  of  the  communications, 
it  will  be  seen  that  the  fact  that  the  sitter  was  not  con¬ 
sciously  thinking  of  the  person  described,  or  had  forgotten 
the  incident  recalled,  has  no  evidential  value  whatever.  The 
sitter  may  or  may  not  be  thinking  consciously  of  the  subject 
of  the  communication ;  he  may  even  be  endeavoring  to 
cause  the  medium  to  speak  of  some  particular  one  with 
whom  he  earnestly  desires  to  communicate.  It  makes  no 
difference  whatever,  for  it  is  the  uppermost  thought  of  the 
subjective  mind  that  is  read,  and  of  that  the  sitter  has 
neither  knowledge  nor  conscious  control.  That  the  me¬ 
dium  relates  incidents  of  the  sitter’s  life  which  he  had  for¬ 
gotten  until  reminded  of  them,  is  not  at  all  strange  or 
unaccountable,  when  we  remember  that  the  memory  of  the 
subjective  mind  is  perfect.  Neither  is  there  any  evidential 
value  in  the  fact  that  the  sitter  cannot  remember  an  inci¬ 
dent  related  by  the  medium  ;  for  he  must  remember  that 
objective  memory  retains  little,  comparatively,  of  the  inci¬ 
dents  of  life,  while  the  subjective  mind  retains  all. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  in  order  to  explain  the  phe¬ 
nomena  of  spiritism  on  the  hypothesis  that  it  has  its  origin 
wholly  within  the  sub-conscious  mind  of  the  medium,  it  is 
not  necessary  to  presuppose  that  he  is  dishonest  or  insincere 
when  he  attributes  it  to  disembodied  spirits.  In  the  absence 
of  knowledge  on  his  part  of  the  recent  discoveries  in  psy¬ 
chological  science,  he  has  the  best  of  reasons  for  so  believ¬ 
ing,  for  up  to  the  present  time  no  other  hypothesis  has 


2i8  the  law  of  psychic  phenomena. 


been  advanced  which  will  account  for  all  the  phenomena  on 
any  other  rational  supposition.  But  the  two  great  laws  — 
duality  of  mind  and  suggestion  —  clear  away  the  greatest 
stumbling-block  in  the  way  of  scientific  investigation  of  this, 
the  greatest  problem  of  the  ages.  It  is  now  no  longer 
necessary  to  deny  the  phenomena,  since  they  can  all  be 
accounted  for  on  scientific  principles,  outside  the  domain 
of  the  supernatural.  It  is  no  longer  necessary  to  consider 
the  spiritual  medium  either  a  fool  or  an  impostor,  since  the 
phenomena  are  genuine,  and  their  explanation  on  scientific 
principles  is  impossible,  except  in  the  light  of  very  recent 
discoveries  in  psychic  science. 

Having  set  forth  the  fundamental  principles  underlying 
the  production  of  so-called  spirit  phenomena,  we  will 
now  proceed  briefly  to  examine  their  various  phases  and 
leading  characteristics,  and  to  show  how  the  hypothesis 
under  consideration  applies  to  each  of  them  with  the  same 
force  and  pertinency  as  in  the  case  of  the  other  psychic 
phenomena  which  have  been  considered. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE  PHENOMENA  OF  SPIRITISM  {conthiucd') . 

Various  Classes  of  Phenomena.  —  Clairvoyance.  —  Its  Field  not  yet 
clearly  defined.  —  Telepathy  invades  its  Ancient  Domain.  — 
Simple  Pixperiments  in  Telepathy. — Their  Significance.  —  Tele¬ 
pathic  Power  in  Mediums.  —  Telepathic  Visions. — A  Typical 
Seance.  —  Wonderful  Exhibition  of  Telepathic  Power.  —  An  Af¬ 
fecting  Interview  of  the  Sitter  with  Himself.  —  Deductions. — 
Visions  of  Inanimate  Things  as  well  as  of  Deceased  Persons.  — 
Spirit  of  the  Jack  of  Clubs.  —  Subjective  Memory.  —  Spirit  Iden¬ 
tity. —  Allan  Kardec’s  Observations.  —  His  Illogical  Conclusions. 
—  His  Supreme  Test.  —  Telepathic  E.xplanation.  —  Four  Ways  of 
explaining  his  Test  Case. 

There  are  several  ways  by  which  the  operations  of  the 
subjective  mind  can  be  brought  above  the  threshold  of 
consciousness.  When  this  is  done  by  any  one  of  the  va¬ 
rious  methods,  a  phenomenon  is  produced.  Each  of  these 
phenomena  has  been,  at  some  time  in  the  history  of  man¬ 
kind,  attributed  to  the  agency  of  disembodied  spirits. 

The  leading  phenomena  above  alluded  to  are  clairvoy¬ 
ance,  clairaudience,  telepathy,  mesmerism,  or  hypnotism, 
automatic  writing,  percussive  sounds  (spirit-rapping),  move¬ 
ment  of  ponderable  bodies  (table-tipping),  and  phantasmic 
appearances. 

Of  these,  clairvoyance,  telepathy,  and  hypnotism  have 
generally  ceased  to  be  regarded  as  proceeding  from  super¬ 
natural  agencies.  They  are  now  recognized  as  powers 
inherent  in  mankind,  and,  as  will  be  seen,  are  largely  em¬ 
ployed  to  explain  other  phenomena. 


220 


THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


Of  clairvoyance  little  will  be  said,  for  the  reason  that  it 
is  still  an  open  question  among  scientists  who  have  been, 
and  are  still,  investigating  the  subject,  whether  independent 
clairvoyance  exists  as  a  power  of  the  human  mind.  Suffi¬ 
cient  evidence  has  not  been  brought  to  my  attention  to 
demonstrate  its  existence.  Certainly  the  great  bulk  of  phe¬ 
nomena  which  are  popularly  regarded  as  evincing  clairvoy¬ 
ant  power  must  now  be  referred  to  telepathy.  It  must  be 
said,  however,  that  many  phenomena  have  been  produced 
which  cannot  at  present  be  accounted  for  on  any  other 
hypothesis  than  that  of  independent  clairvoyance.  Yet  it 
is  not  impossible  that,  when  the  laws  of  telepathy  are  better 
understood,  all  so-called  clairvoyant  phenomena  may  be 
referred  to  that  agency.  For  the  purposes  of  our  argu¬ 
ment,  however,  it  is  not  specially  important  that  the  dis¬ 
tinction  should  be  clearly  drawn  between  the  two,  inasmuch 
as  telepathy,  which  is  an  undoubted  power  of  the  sub¬ 
jective  mind,  sufficiently  explains  all  the  so-called  spirit¬ 
istic  phenomena  involving  the  perception  by  the  medium 
of  facts  not  within  his  own  experience  or  his  previous 
knowledge.  I  will  therefore  first  treat  of  those  phenom¬ 
ena  the  mysteries  of  which  are  directly  and  primarily  re¬ 
ferable  to  telepathy. 

A  very  simple  experiment  will  enable  almost  any  one  to 
demonstrate  telepathic  power.  Let  a  person  be  securely 
blindfolded,  by  taking  a  pair  of  kid  gloves,  folding  them 
into  pads,  placing  them  over  his  eyes,  and  binding  them  on 
by  means  of  a  handkerchief.  Then  let  a  circle  be  formed  by 
a  few  persons,  with  their  hands  joined,  the  percipient  forming 
one  of  the  circle.  Let  a  card  be  selected  at  random  from 
a  pack,  taking  care  that  no  one  sees  any  other  card  of  the 
pack,  even  for  an  instant,  until  the  experiment  is  over. 
'I’hen  place  the  card  in  plain  sight  of  all  but  the  percipient, 
and  let  them  fix  their  minds  and  gaze  upon  the  card,  and 
in  silence  await  the  result.  In  the  mean  time  the  percipient 
should  be  and  remain  in  a  perfectly  passive  and  tranquil 
frame  of  mind,  and  simply  watch  for  visions.  He  will  soon 
begin  to  see  indistinct  objects  floating  in  the  darkness,  and 


THE  PHENOMENA  OF  SPIRITISM. 


221 


these  objects  will  presently  begin  to  form  themselves  into 
shapes  more  distinct.  They  may  be  evanescent,  and  disap¬ 
pear  at  intervals ;  but  they  will  soon  return  in  still  more 
definite  form,  and  will  eventually  assume  some  shape  that 
will  suggest  the  card  selected.  It  may  be  that  a  vision  of 
the  whole  card  will  be  presented,  exactly  as  it  is,  or  it  may 
be  that  there  will  be  a  sort  of  allegorical  representation  of 
it.  Tor  instance,  in  an  experiment  tried  in  presence  of  the 
author  the  ten  of  diamonds  had  been  selected.  Instead  of 
seeing  a  vision  of  the  card,  there  was  an  appearance  of 
ten  real  diamonds,  arranged  in  rows  corresponding  to  the 
rows  of  spots  on  the  card,  each  one  sending  forth  rays  of 
light  and  scintillations  of  color.  As  it  was  the  first  experi¬ 
ment  the  percipient  had  ever  tried,  he  was  at  a  loss  to 
know  the  meaning,  if  it  had  any,  of  the  vision ;  but  as  it 
persisted  in  coming.  Ire  finally  ventured  to  remark,  hesitat¬ 
ingly,  that  he  had  an  “  impression  of  the  ten  of  diamonds.” 
The  applause  which  followed  told  him  that  his  subjective 
mind  had  conveyed  to  his  consciousness  by  means  of  an 
allegorical  vision  the  information  it  had  telepathically  re¬ 
ceived.  It  may  here  be  remarked  parenthetically  that  the 
subjective  mind  of  man  ap])ears  to  be  fond  of  allegory  as  a 
means  of  conveying  its  thoughts  or  information  above  the 
threshold  of  consciousness.  The  history  of  mankind  is  full 
of  illustrations  of  this  fact. 

When  the  next  card  was  selected,  the  percipient  saw  the 
vision  of  a  single  heart  spot  floating  in  the  darkness,  unat¬ 
tached  to  anything  like  a  card  ;  whereupon  he  ventured  to 
name  the  ace  of  hearts,  which  was  correct.  In  all,  five 
cards  were  selected  at  this  sitting,  and  each  one  was  named 
correctly,  with  the  exception  of  the  last,  which  was  the  five 
of  spades.  'I'he  five  of  clubs  was  named  ;  but  the  percipi¬ 
ent  explained  his  mistake  by  saying  that  one-half  of  each 
spot  was  concealed  from  his  view,  namely,  the  points  of  the 
spade  spots,  which  appeared  to  be  thrust  into  the  darkness, 
so  to  speak,  leaving  only  the  handle  end  of  the  spades  ex¬ 
posed  to  view.  As  that  half  of  the  spade  spot  corresponds 
exactly  to  the  corresponding  half  of  a  club  spot,  the  mis- 


222 


THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


take  was  natural,  and  was  really  of  as  great,  if  not  greater, 
evidential  value  than  if  the  card  had  been  correctly  named. 

Others  of  the  company  tried  the  same  experiment,  gener¬ 
ally  without  physical  contact  with  any  one  else,  and  each 
one  was  able  to  name  some  of  the  cards  correctly.  But  no 
one  was  able  to  name  correctly  a  card  which  was  not  seen 
by  some  one  else,  —  which  showed  clearly  that  the  power  to 
see  the  card  resulted  from  telepathy,  and  not  from  inde¬ 
pendent  clairvoyance.  It  should  be  here  stated  that  there 
were  six  in  the  company,  each  one  of  whom  tried  the  ex¬ 
periment,  and  each  scored  a  sufficient  number  of  successes 
to  remove  the  result  from  the  domain  of  coincidence. 

These  experiments  were  as  simple  as  could  well  be  de¬ 
vised,  and  to  the  unreflecting  mind  may  seem  trifling.  But 
I  shall  endeavor  to  show  that  they  possess  unmeasured 
significance. 

Before  proceeding  to  do  so,  it  may  be  well  to  state  that 
visions  resulting  from  telepathic  communion  are  as  varied 
as  is  the  character  of  the  communicants  or  the  subjects  of 
the  messages.  They  are  often  seen  by  the  percipient  as 
plainly  as  the  objective  reality  could  be  seen;  and  events 
are  depicted  by  means  of  visions  that  re-enact  the  scenes, 
with  all  the  characters  and  actors  represented,  as  perfectly 
as  the  reality  itself.^ 

It  now  remains  to  show  how  this  faculty  of  reading 
the  minds  of  others  is  unconsciously  employed  by  spirit 
mediums  to  impart  to  their  clients  information  regarding 
persons  and  events  of  which  the  medium  has  no  previous 
knowledge. 

We  will  consider,  for  this  purpose,  the  case  of  a  medium 
who  develops  no  physical  phenomena,  but  who  simply 
receives  his  visitor,  tells  him  of  the  events  of  his  past  life, 
describes  his  spirit-friends,  conveys  oral  communications 
from  them,  and  occasionally  drops  into  prophecy.  The 
visitor  may  or  may  not  be  a  professed  believer  in  spirit- 

1  See  “  Phantasms  of  the  Living,”  and  the  Proceedings  of  the 
London  Society  for  Psychical  Research,  for  full  confirmation  of  this 
statement. 


THE  PHENOMENA  OF  SPIRITISM.  223 

ism  j  but  the  fact  that  he  is  there  to  consult  a  medium 
shows  a  faith  sufficient  for  the  purpose  in  view,  and  pro¬ 
pinquity  places  his  subjective  mind  en  rapport  with  that  of 
the  medium.  We  will  suppose  that  this  is  the  first  time 
that  the  two  have  met,  and  that  the  medium  is  entirely 
unacquainted  with  the  character,  the  antecedents,  or  the 
deceased  friends  of  the  sitter.  The  first  thing  that  the 
medium  does  is  to  become  wholly  or  partially  self-hypno¬ 
tized.  He  may  go  into  the  state  only  partially,  and  appear 
to  the  visitor  to  be  in  his  normal  condition.  He  may,  and 
probably  does,  believe  that  his  “  control  ”  takes  possession 
of  his  body  and  talks  through  him  ;  he  has,  as  we  have 
already  seen,  every  reason  for  this  belief.  He  is  taken 
possession  of  by  some  unseen  force,  is  guided  by  some 
unseen  intelligence  which  possesses  powers  and  attributes 
of  which  he  is  not  conscious  in  his  normal  condition.  He 
has  no  other  hypothesis  to  account  for  the  extraordinary 
manifestations  of  which  that  intelligence  is  the  source.  To 
make  assurance  doubly  sure,  the  intelligence  tells  him  that 
it  is  the  spirit  of  some  deceased  person,  and  gives  him  a 
detailed  and  very  plausible  account  of  itself.  He  is  forced 
to  believe  the  statements  of  his  subjective  entity,  for  he 
knows  no  reason  for  believing  otherwise,  and  it,  in  turn,  is 
compelled  by  the  laws  of  its  being  to  believe  itself  to  be 
what  it  represents ;  for  the  suggestion  has  been  made  to  it 
that  it  is  the  spirit  of  a  deceased  person.  That  suggestion 
having  been  made  in  a  general  way,  to  begin  with,  his  sub¬ 
jective  mind  will  proceed  to  fill  in  the  details  in  some  way 
with  marvellous  acumen,  and  with  such  logical  circumstan¬ 
tiality  of  detail  as  to  deceive  “  the  very  elect.”  It  is  just 
as  it  is  in  the  case  of  a  hypnotized  person,  who,  in  pur¬ 
suance  of  a  post-hypnotic  suggestion,  having  done  some 
absurd  act,  when  questioned  as  to  why  he  did  it,  will,  on 
the  instant,  invent  some  reason  so  ])lausible  that  the  act 
will  seem  perfectly  natural  to  one  who  does  not  know  its 
origin. 

Again,  the  subjective  mind  of  the  sitter  is  also  controlled 
by  a  suggestion,  more  or  less  strong,  that  spirits  of  the  dead 


224  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


are  about  to  be  invoked  ;  and  it  is  also  ready  with  its  logical 
deductions  from  the  premises  suggested,  and  will  perform 
its  part  in  the  st^ance  with  the  same  alacrity  and  acumen. 
Here,  then,  we  have  two  subjective  minds  e7i  rapport,  and 
the  telepathic  conditions  for  a  successful  stiance  are  estab¬ 
lished.  The  shrewd  and  successful  medium  usually  begins 
by  making  some  very  complimentary  remarks  concerning 
the  character  and  mental  attributes  of  the  sitter.  This  puts 
the  latter  at  his  ease,  and  gives  him  an  exalted  opinion 
of  the  good  sense  and  judgment  of  the  medium.  Some  in¬ 
cidents  of  the  sitter’s  life  may  then  be  related,  and  his  oc¬ 
cupation  indicated.  It  will  generally  be  ’done  in  terms  such 
as  indicate  the  fact  that  the  medium  obtains  his  impres¬ 
sions  by  means  of  visions.  For  instance,  the  writer  once 
heard  a  medium  in  New  York  city  describe  the  occupation 
of  an  examiner  in  the  United  States  Patent  Office.  The 
two  had  never  met  before,  and  did  not  know  of  each  other’s 
existence  ten  minutes  before  the  stance.  Even  the  name 
of  the  sitter  had  been  withheld  from  the  medium,  for  the 
purpose  of  testing  her  telepathic  powers,  and  for  the  further 
purpose  of  convincing  one  of  those  present  that  spirits  of  the 
dead  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  manifestations.  The  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  party  introduced  each  other  by  fictitious  names, 
and  talked  spiritism  to  the  medium  until  “  harmonious  con¬ 
ditions  ”  were  established,  when  the  stance  began.  “  I  see 
an  immense  building,”  she  began,  “with  a  great  number  of 
rooms  in  it.  In  one  of  these  rooms  I  see  you,  seated  at  a 
large  desk,  with  a  great  many  papers  upon  it.  I  see  drawings, 
apparently  of  machinery,  spread  out  upon  the  desk  before 
you.  It  seems  to  me  that  you  must  have  something  to  do 
with  patent  rights.”  She  was  informed  that  her  conjecture 
was  thus  far  correct.  It  should  here  be  remembered  that  a 
medium  should  always  be  encouraged  by  a  frank  acknowl¬ 
edgment  when  he  is  correct.  It  encourages  him,  puts  him 
at  his  ease,  and  constitutes  a  suggestion  that  he  is  able  to 
perceive  the  truth  in  reference  to  that  particular  person ; 
and,  consequently,  helps  him  to  proceed  correctly  with  other 
manifestations. 


THE  PHENOMENA  OF  SPIRITISM. 


225 


“But,”  continued  the  lady,  “this  is  not  your  only  oc¬ 
cupation.  I  see  you  in  your  library  at  home,  surrounded 
by  books  and  manuscripts.  You  appear  to  be  writing  a 
book.” 

She  then  went  on  to  describe  correctly  all  the  bookcases 
and  other  furniture  in  the  room,  and  then  said, — 

“  I  see  the  pathway  by  which  you  have  arrived  at  your 
present  conclusion  in  reference  to  the  subject  of  your  book. 
It  is  all  strewn  with  rubbish  and  weeds,  all  of  which  you 
have  thrown  aside.  But  you  see  a  great  light  ahead,  and 
are  pursuing  that  with  perfect  confidence  and  steadiness  of 
purpose.” 

“Am  I  in  the  right  path?  ”  inquired  the  examiner. 

“  I  cannot  tell,  for  I  cannot  perceive  the  subject  on  which 
you  are  writing.  I  think  you  are,  however,  for  the  light  ahead 
seems  so  clear.” 

After  a  pause  she  added,  — 

“  You  are  making  one  mistake.  You  think  that  you  are 
doing  it  all  yourself.  But  you  are  not.  You  are  constantly 
guided  by  a  great  spirit.” 

“Who  is  he?”  was  asked,  with  all  the  greater  interest 
because  the  gentleman  was  writing  a  book,  and,  like  every 
other  author,  felt  that  he  had  perceived  “  a  great  light ;  ” 
moreover,  if  he  was  sure  of  anything  connected  with  it,  he 
was  sure  that  he  was  doing  it  himself,  without  the  aid  of  any 
spirit  or  spirits.  “  Give  me  the  name  of  my  spirit  friend  and 
guide,”  he  added. 

“  I  cannot  do  that  to-day,”  she  replied,  with  the  true  com¬ 
mercial  instinct  of  the  professional  medium  ;  “  come  to-mor¬ 
row,  and  I  will  try  to  give  you  the  name.” 

Accordingly,  the  same  party  visited  her  the  next  day, 
when  she  made  every  effort  to  obtain  the  name,  but  with¬ 
out  success.  It  should  be  stated  here  that  the  lady  was  a 
slate-writing  medium.  Communication  after  communica¬ 
tion  was  written,  but  without  signature,  and  all  efforts  to 
obtain  the  name  were  futile.  Finally  the  gentleman  said, 
m  an  aside  apparently  not  intended  for  the  ears  of  the 
medium,  “  I  think  I  know  w’ho  it  is.  It  must  be  either 


226  THE  LA  IF  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


A  B  [naming  a  living  friend  in  Washington],  or  my  brother, 
C  D  [giving  Ihs  own  name],”  for  he  had  no  brother,  living 
or  dead.  Immediately  a  communication  was  written  out, 
signed  by  the  supposed  spirit  brother,  announcing  the  fact 
that  he,  and  he  alone,  was  the  inspiring  power  in  charge 
of  the  literary  work  named,  that  he  was  the  “  guardian 
spirit  ”  of  the  gentleman,  over  whom  he  was  “  constantly 
watching,”  etc. 

The  emotions  created  by  the  affecting  terms  of  the  com¬ 
munication  can  be  imagined  when  it  is  stated  that  all  pres¬ 
ent,  save  the  medium,  knew  that  the  name  was  that  of  the 
sitter,  and  that  he  never  had  a  brother.  But  these  emo¬ 
tions  quickly  gave  place  to  wonder  and  admiration  when  it 
was  discovered  that  the  signature  was  an  almost  exact  repro¬ 
duction  of  his  own,  with  all  its  salient  peculiarities  faithfully 
reproduced. 

Comment  upon  this  wonderful  admixture  of  genuine 
telepathic  power  and  conscious  or  unconscious  fraud  will 
not  be  indulged  in,  save  to  remark  that  the  first  day’s  pro¬ 
ceedings  exhibited  marvellous  telepathic  power  under  the 
most  perfect  test  conditions.  As  to  the  second  day’s  per¬ 
formance,  it  need  only  be  said  that  if  the  communication 
had  been  from  a  genuine  spirit,  struggling  in  vain  to  remem¬ 
ber  his  own  name,  it  shows  that  even  spirits  are  controlled 
by  the  subtle  power  of  suggestion ;  for  he  had  no  hesitation 
in  assuming  the  name  of  the  sitter  when  that  name  was  sug¬ 
gested,  and  he  so  completely  identified  himself  with  that 
person  as  to  reproduce  his  signature  with  mar\'ellous  accu¬ 
racy.  It  may  be  said  that  a  fraud  was  perpetrated  upon 
the  medium.  To  this  the  plea  of  guilty  must  be  entered, 
together  with  a  plea  of  extenuating  circumstances,  in  that  it 
was  done  in  pursuit  of  scientific  truth.  Whether  the  inter¬ 
ests  of  truth  were  subserved,  the  reader  must  judge  for  him¬ 
self.  To  that  end  he  must  ask  himself  the  question  whether 
it  is  not  more  probable  that  this  manifestation  was  of  the 
subjective  entity  of  the  medium  rather  than  of  an  indepen¬ 
dent,  disembodied  spirit.  Conceding  the  inherent  power  in 
mankind  to  convey  and  receive  telepathic  communications, 


THE  PHENOAIENA  OF  SPIRITISM. 


227 


it  must  be  evident  that  telepathy  is  a  sufficient  explanation 
of  what  occurred  the  first  day.  It  is  true  that  the  medium 
thought  that  the  information  thus  obtained  was  conveyed  to 
her  by  disembodied  spirits.  But  that  does  not  change  the 
facts ;  and  when  a  phenomenon  is  explicable  by  reference 
to  known  natural  laws,  we  have  neither  occasion  nor  logical 
right  to  seek  an  explanation  in  the  realm  of  the  supernatu¬ 
ral.  The  second  day’s  performance  is  as  easily  explicable 
under  the  well-known  laws  of  hypnotism.  The  medium  was 
in  a  partially  hypnotic  state,  her  subjective  mind  was  active 
and  in  control  of  her  physical  powers,  and  was  necessarily 
perfectly  amenable  to  control  by  suggestion  from  any  source. 
In  obedience  to  the  law  of  auto-suggestion,  it  believed  itself  to 
be  a  disembodied  spirit.  It  acted  in  that  capacity  far  enough 
to  write  communications  of  the  standard,  indefinite  charac¬ 
ter  common  to  such  productions,  but  could  give  no  name, 
for  the  simple  reason  that  there  was  no  name  to  give,  and 
none  had  been  suggested.  But  the  instant  a  name  was  sug¬ 
gested  it  seized  upon  it,  and,  in  pursuance  of  the  suggestion 
that  it  represented  the  sitter’s  brother,  wrote  just  such  a 
communication  as  the  logic  of  the  situation  dictated,  be¬ 
lieving,  without  a  doubt,  that  it  was  actually  the  spirit  of 
the  deceased  brother  of  the  sitter.  It  may  be  asked  why, 
if  the  medium  was  possessed  of  such  wonderful  telepathic 
power,  did  she  not  perceive  the  fact  that  she  was  being 
imposed  upon,  that  the  sitter  was  not  sincere  in  his  pro¬ 
fessions  of  a  belief  in  spiritism,  and  that  he  had  not  a 
brother  in  the  spirit-land.  Simply  because  she  was  con¬ 
trolled  by  the  universal  law  of  suggestion,  and  the  oral  sug¬ 
gestions  had  been  made  that  he  was  a  believer,  and  that  he 
had  a  brother  deceased.  If  she  had  disbelieved  the  state¬ 
ment,  it  would  have  constituted  an  exception  to  the  opera¬ 
tion  of  a  natural  and  universal  law,  —  a  suspension,  in  fact, 
of  the  laws  of  nature. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  we  are  to  discard  the  foregoing  ex¬ 
planation  and  hold  that  it  was  actually  a  disembodied  spirit 
controlling  the  medium,  we  must  presuppose  a  spirit  with¬ 
out  a  name,  or  without  sufficient  intelligence  to  remember 


228  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


his  name.  Either  supposition,  if  it  does  no  violence  to 
common-sense,  is  contrary  to  all  the  teachings  of  spiritists, 
who  have  led  us  to  believe  that  the  law  of  spirit-life  is  that 
of  eternal  progress;  that  all  truth  stands  revealed  to  the 
perception  of  the  disembodied  soul.  It  would  cause  one 
to  lose  confidence  in  his  guardian  angels  if  he  were  forced 
to  believe  that  a  short  residence  in  the  spirit-land  could 
reduce  the  immortal  mind  to  such  a  state  of  imbecility. 

This  digression  is  indulged  in  for  the  purpose  of  illustra¬ 
ting  the  fact  that  one  of  the  means  by  which  telepathic 
impressions  are  conveyed  from  one  to  another  is  by  visions. 
The  percipient  sees  a  vision  representing  the  incident 
sought  to  be  communicated  by  the  agent.  He  sees  the 
image  of  the  object  or  person  which  the  agent  desires  him 
to  see.  Thus,  when  a  person  consults  a  medium  he  gene¬ 
rally  expects  find  desires  to  learn  something  of  his  deceased 
friends.  The  medium  goes  into  the  subjective  condition 
for  that  purpose.  The  visitor’s  mind  is  full  of  anticipation 
and  hope  that  he  will  be  put  into  direct  communication 
with  the  loved  and  lost.  Presently  the  medium  sees  a 
vision  of  some  person.  Pie  believes  that  he  sees  a  spirit. 
He  describes  it,  and  it  is  found  to  correspond  with  one  of 
the  visitor’s  deceased  friends.  The  visitor  recognizes  the 
description,  and  says  so.  He  asks  for  the  name,  and  it  is 
given.  Then  the  medium  sees  a  vision  representing  some 
incident  known  only  to  the  visitor  and  the  deceased.  He 
describes  the  incident,  not,  perhaps,  as  a  vision  which  he 
sees,  but  as  a  statement  of  fact  imparted  to  him  by  the 
spirit.  The  visitor  very  likely  knows  that  the  medium 
knew  nothing  of  him  or  of  the  deceased  before  that 
hour.  He  is  convinced  that  the  medium  has  seen  and 
conversed  with  the  spirit  of  his  dead  friend,  and  he  is 
a  convert  to  spiritism  from  that  moment.  Now,  has  the 
medium  actually  seen  a  spirit,  or  has  he  merely  read 
the  sitter’s  subjective  mind?  Is  there  any  more  reason 
for  supposing  that  he  has  seen  a  spirit  of  a  dead  man  than 
there  is  for  supposing  that  a  mind-reader  sees  the  spirit  of 
the  Jack  of  clubs  when  the  image  of  that  card  is  telepathed 


THE  PHENOMENA  OF  SPIRITISM.  229 

to  him?  Obviously  not.  The  conditions  are  precisely  the 
same  in  both  cases.  The  percipient  sees  the  image  of  that 
which  is  in  the  mind  of  the  agent.  In  the  one  case,  it  is 
a  card ;  in  the  other  it  is  an  individual.  If  it  is  the  spirit 
of  the  individual  that  is  seen  in  the  one  case,  it  is  the 
spirit  of  the  card  that  is  seen  in  the  other.  In  the  case  of 
the  New  York  medium,  did  she  see  the  spirit  of  the  Patent 
Office,  the  spirits  of  the  papers,  the  drawings,  the  desks, 
and  the  spirit  of  the  examiner  seated  at  the  spirit  of 
one  of  the  desks,  examining  the  spirits  of  the  drawings 
and  of  the  specifications? 

I  repeat  it,  the  percipient  sees  the  image  of  that  which  is 
in  the  mind  of  the  agent,  and  he  never  sees  more  than  that. 
It  often  happens  that  the  image  of  some  one  is  seen,  of  whom 
the  agent  is  not  consciously  thinking  at  the  moment.  This 
has  been  already  explained,  on  the  obvious  ground  that  it  is 
the  subjective,  or  unconscious,  mind  of  the  agent  that  is  read. 
It  sometimes  happens  that  some  fact  is  related,  some  scene 
described,  which  the  sitter  cannot  recall  to  mind,  and  he 
conscientiously  declares  that  he  never  knew  the  fact  related, 
nor  witnessed  the  incident  depicted.  But  when  it  is  re¬ 
membered  that  the  subjective  mind  of  man  retains  all  that 
he  has  ever  seen,  heard,  or  read,  and  that  he  retains  com¬ 
paratively  little  in  his  objective  recollection,  it  is  extremely 
unsafe  for  him  to  declare  that  any  one  fact  has  never  been 
known  to  him.  It  is  merely  negative  evidence  at  best,  and 
amounts  only  to  a  declaration  that  he  does  not  recall  the 
fact.  When  we  consider  how  little  we  retain,  in  our  objec¬ 
tive  recollection,  of  what  we  have  seen,  heard,  or  read,  we 
may  well  wonder  that  it  does  not  oftener  happen  that  so- 
called  spirits  tell  us' of  circumstances  which  we  do  not  re¬ 
member.  On  the  whole,  it  may  be  safely  assumed  that  no 
medium  has  ever  yet  been  able  to  impart  any  information 
that  is  not  known  either  to  the  medium  or  to  some  living 
person  with  whom  he  is  e7i  rapport.  There  is  certainly 
nothing  but  the  merest  negative  evidence,  such  as  has  been 
described,  that  such  a  thing  ever  happened.  On  the  other 
hand,  there  is  the  strongest  possible  evidence  to  the  con- 


230 


THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


trary,  in  the  fact  that  there  is  room  for  a  doubt  on  that 
question.  It  is  self-evident  that  if  facts,  known  neither  to 
the  medium  nor  those  surrounding  him,  —  that  is,  facts  not 
known  to  him  nor  obtainable  by  means  of  telepathy,  —  can 
be  perceived  or  obtained  by  him  from  independent  sources, 
the  evidence  of  that  fact  would  be  thrust  upon  us  from  ten 
thousand  different  sources  every  hour.  This  is  also  nega¬ 
tive  evidence,  it  is  true,  but  it  is  all  but  conclusive.  Thus, 
the  question  of  spirit  identity  has  given  spiritists  no  end  of 
trouble.  Their  ablest  writers  have  sought  in  vain  for  a  solu¬ 
tion  of  the  question  why  it  is  that  spirits  constantly  fail  to 
give  conclusive  evidence  of  their  identity  by  means  which 
could  not  be  referred  to  the  knowledge  of  the  medium  or 
to  telepathy. 

On  this  subject  Allan  Kardec,  one  of  the  ablest  writers 
on  the  subject,  discourses  as  follows :  — 

“  The  identity  of  contemporaneous  spirits  is  much  more  easily 
proved,  —  those  whose  character  and  habits  are  known  ;  for  it 
is  precisely  these  habits,  which  they  have  not  yet  had  time  to 
throw  aside,  by  which  they  can  be  recognized.”  ^ 

This  may  be  true  ;  but  it  is  also  true  that  where  the 
“character  and  habits  ”  of  a  supposed  spirit  are  known  to 
the  medium,  or  to  those  who  are  in  telepathic  rapport  with 
him,  simulation  of  that  character  and  those  habits  is  per¬ 
fectly  easy  to  the  expert  medium.  The  more  generally  the 
character  and  habits  are  known,  the  less  evidential  value  is 
to  be  attached  to  their  reproduction. 

Our  author  then  proceeds  :  — 

“  Without  doubt  the  spirit  can  give  the  proofs  if  asked,  but 
he  does  not  always  do  so,  unless  it  is  agreeable  to  him,  and 
generally  the  asking  wounds  him  ;  for  this  reason  it  should  be 
avoided.  In  leaving  his  body  the  spirit  has  not  laid  aside  his 
susceptibility ;  he  is  wounded  by  any  question  tending  to  put 
him  to  the  proof.  It  is  stick  questions  as  one  would  not  dare  to 
propose  to  kittz,  were  he  livings  for  fear  of  overstepping  the 
bounds  of  propriety ;  why,  then,  should  there  be  less  regard 
after  his  death  'i  Should  a  man  enter  a  drawing-room  and  de- 

^  Book  on  Mediums,  pp.  331-2. 


THE  PHENOMENA  OF  SPIRITISM. 


231 


dine  to  give  his  name,  should  we  insist,  at  all  hazards,  that  he 
should  prove  his  identity  by  exhibiting  his  titles,  under  the  pre¬ 
text  that  there  are  impostors?  Would  he  not,  assuredly,  have 
the  right  to  remind  his  interrogator  of  the  rules  of  good  breed¬ 
ing?  This  is  what  the  spirits  do,  either  by  not  replying  or  by 
withdrawing.  Let  us  make  a  comparison.  Suppose  the  as¬ 
tronomer  Arago  during  his  life  had  presented  himself  in  a 
house  where  no  one  knew  him,  and  he  had  been  thus  addressed: 
‘You  say  you  are  Arago;  but  as  we  do  not  know  you,  please 
prove  it  by  answering  our  questions  •  solve  this  astronomical 
problem  ;  tell  us  your  name,  your  Christian  name,  those  of  your 
children,  what  you  did  such  and  such  a  day,  at  such  an  hour, 
etc.’  What  would  he  have  answered?  Well,  as  a  spirit  he 
will  do  just  what  he  would  have  done  during  his  lifetime ;  and 
other  spirits  do  the  same.” 

The  above  is  considered  the  best  reason  that  can  be 
given  for  the  fact  that  spirits  whose  character  and  habits  in 
life  are  not  generally  known,  or  not  known  to  the  medium 
or  to  those  surrounding  him,  invariably  refuse  to  give  proofs 
of  their  identity.  But  is  his  comparison  pertinent?  I 
think  not.  It  might  be  considered  impertinent,  nay,  the 
very  height  of  ill-breeding,  if  one  should  insist  on  proofs  of 
identity  when  a  stranger  is  casually  introduced,  or  intro¬ 
duces  himself,  in  a  drawing-room.  But  let  us  make  another 
comparison.  Suppose  a  stranger  —  we,  too,  will  say  Arago 
the  astronomer  —  calls  us  up  by  telephone,  and  makes  a 
statement  of  the  most  transcendent  interest  and  importance 
to  us,  —  a  statement  which,  if  true,  will  change  the  whole 
course  of  our  lives  and  our  habits  of  thought.  He  states 
that  his  special  mission  is  to  make  this  portentous  an¬ 
nouncement  to  us,  and  that  his  name  is  Arago,  the  astrono¬ 
mer.  We  know  Arago  the  astronomer  by  reputation,  but 
have  never  had  the  honor  of  his  personal  acquaintance. 
We  know  enough  of  him,  however,  to  be  certain  that  he 
would  tell  us  the  exact  truth  as  he  understood  it ;  and  we 
would  stake  our  dearest  interests  upon  a  statement  of  his 
regarding  that  about  which  he  professed  to  have  positive 
personal  knowledge.  Under  such  circumstances  would  it 
be  likely  to  wound  his  feelings  or  shock  his  sense  of  pro- 


232 


THE  LA  W  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


priety  if  we  should  reply  through  the  telephone  something 
like  this  :  — 

“  Sir,  your  message  is  of  portentous  import  to  us,  and 
we  cannot  hesitate  to  believe  it  if  we  can  be  assured  that 
you  are  Arago  the  astronomer,  as  you  represent.  We  can 
hear  you,  but  we  cannot  see  you,  and  you  are  not  vouched 
for  by  any  one  we  know.  Please  give  us  some  proof  of  your 
identity.” 

Would  Arago  the  astronomer,  or  any  other  sensible  man, 
wrap  himself  in  the  mantle  of  offended  dignity  and  treat  us 
with  silent  contempt,  or  remind  us  of  “  the  rules  of  good¬ 
breeding  ”  ?  Certainly  not,  especially  if  the  object  of  his 
existence  was  to  make  the  communication,  not  only  for  our 
individual  benefit,  but  for  the  purpose  of  giving  to  all  man¬ 
kind  that  direct  and  positive  assurance,  that  tangible  evi¬ 
dence,  for  which  all  humanity  has  sought  in  vain  since  the 
dawn  of  creation. 

Our  author  then  continues  :  — 

“  While  spirits  refuse  to  answer  puerile  and  impertinent 
questions  which  a  person  would  have  hesitated  to  ask  during 
their  lives,  they  often  spontaneously  give  irrefutable  proofs  of 
their  identity  by  their  character,  revealed  in  their  language,  by 
the  use  of  words  that  were  familiar  to  them,  by  citing  certain 
facts,  —  particularities  of  their  life  sometimes  unknown  to  the 
assistants,  and  whose  truth  has  been  verified.  Proofs  of  identity 
will  spring  up  in  many  unforeseen  ways,  which  do  not  present 
themselves  at  first  sight,  but  in  the  .course  of  conversations.  It 
is  better,  then,  to  wait  for  them,  without  calling  for  them,  ob¬ 
serving  with  care  all  that  may  •  flow  from  the  nature  of  the 
communications.  (See  the  fact  given.  No.  70.)  ” 

Turning  now  to  page  82  of  the  volume,  we  find  the  state¬ 
ment  above  alluded  to,  and  it  reads  as  follows  :  — 

“On  a  vessel  of  the  Imperial  French  navy,  stationed  in  the 
Chinese  seas,  the  whole  crew,  from  the  sailors  up  to  the  staff- 
major,  were  occupied  in  making  tables  talk.  They  hit  upon  the 
idea  of  invoking  the  spirit  of  a  lieutenant  of  this  same  vessel, 
some  two  years  dead.  He  came,  and  after  various  communica¬ 
tions,  which  astonished  every  one,  he  said,  by  rapping,  what  fol¬ 
lows  :  ‘  I  pray  you  instantly  to  pay  the  captain  the  sum  of  (he 


THE  THE  NOME  HA  OF  SPIRITlSAi. 


mentioned  the  sum),  which  I  owe  him,  and  which  I  regret  not 
having  been  able  to  repay  before  my  death.’  No  one  knev/  the 
fact ;  the  captain  himself  had  forgotten  the  debt,  —  a  very  small 
one;  but  on  looking  over  his  accounts,  he  found  there  the  lieu¬ 
tenant’s  debt,  the  sum  indicated  being  perfectly  correct.  We 
ask,  of  whose  thought  could  this  be  the  reflection  ?  ” 

Here,  then,  we  find  the  supreme  test  applied,  —  the  best 
conditions  possible,  as  prescribed  by  one  of  the  ablest  and 
most  thoughtful  writers  on  the  subject.  It  will  be  observed 
that  he  is  not  blind  to  the  possibilities  of  telepathy,  and 
counts  it  as  a  factor  in  the  case.  “  Of  whose  thought  could 
this  be  the  reflection?”  he  asks  triumphantly.  “No  one 
knew  the  fact ;  the  captain  himself  had  forgotten  the  debt.” 
It  must  be  admitted  that  if  this  test  is  conclusive,  their 
case  has  been  proved  a  thousand  times  over.  But  in  view 
of  what  is  now  known  of  the  laws  of  telepathy,  it  is  self- 
evident  that  it  proves  nothing.  Telepathy,  as  we  have 
again  and  again  repeated,  is  the  communion  of  two  or  more 
subjective  minds.  It  is  not  that  of  which  we  are  con¬ 
sciously  thinking  that  the  subjective  mind  of  the  medium 
perceives.  Doubtless  the  captain  had  forgotten,  objec¬ 
tively,  all  about  the  loan.  It  was  a  very  small  amount,  and 
the  lieutenant  had  been  dead  two  years.  But  the  subjec¬ 
tive  mind  of  the  captain,  which  remembers  all  things,  great 
and  small,  could  not  forget  it,  and  it  was  telepathed  to  the 
subjective  mind  of  the  medium.  Besides,  there  was  another 
very  potent  agency  at  work  to  bring  this  loan  into  promi¬ 
nence.  We  have  already  seen,  in  former  chapters,  that  the 
normal  function  of  the  .subjective  mind  is  to  watch  over  and 
protect  the  life  of  the  individual.  It  is  the  strongest  in¬ 
stinct  of  all  animate  nature.  The  protection  of  the  material 
interests  of  the  individual  is  as  much  a  part  of  the  function 
of  the  subjective  mind  as  the  protection  of  his  life.  Indeed, 
the  promotion  of  the  one  is  but  a  means  to  secure  the 
other.  It  was,  therefore,  simple  obedience  to  the  first  law 
of  nature  that  prompted  the  subjective  mind  of  the  captain 
to  thrust  this  loan  upon  the  attention  of  those  present  and 
thus  secure  its  payment. 


234  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 

It  may  be  said,  however,  that  there  was  no  evidence  that 
the  captain  was  present  at  the  se'ance ;  and  it  may  be  as¬ 
sumed  by  some  that  telepathic  communion  with  his  mind 
was  impossible  in  his  absence  from  the  circle.  The  former 
supposition  is  possibly  correct,  but  the  latter  is  not  probable, 
in  view  of  the  well-known  facts  of  telepathy.  But  assuming 
both  to  be  true,  —  that  the  captain  was  absent  from  the 
immediate  circle,  and  that  the  circumstance  would  prevent 
telepathic  communion  with  his  mind,  —  there  still  remain 
two  or  three  other  ways  of  accounting  for  the  phenomenon. 
In  the  first  place,  it  is  extremely  probable  that  the  captain’s 
accounts  were  kept  by  a  subordinate,  who  was  present,  and 
who,  subjectively  at  least,  remembered  the  account.  It  is 
distinctly  stated  that  all  the  subordinates  were  present, 
“  from  the  sailors  up  to  the  staff-major.”  This  would  neces¬ 
sarily  include  the  one  whose  duty  it  was  to  keep  the  books. 
His  subjective  mind  would  be  just  as  available  as  that  of 
the  captain  for  the  production  of  what,  in  those  days,  was 
considered  a  test  case.  Again,  supposing  that  the  entry  of 
the  account  was  made  by  the  captain’s  hand,  it  is  extremely 
probable  that  some  one  else  had  access  to  the  books ;  and 
however  superficially  the  knowledge  was  impressed  upon 
his  consciousness,  it  was  forever  fixed  upon  the  tablets  of 
his  subjective  memory,  and  was  instantly  available  for  use 
when  a  test  case  was  needed.  To  those  who  regard  inde¬ 
pendent  clairvoyance  as  an  established  principle,  or  faculty, 
of  the  human  mind,  the  explanation  is  easy ;  for  there 
would  be  no  difficulty  in  supposing  the  mind  of  the  inde¬ 
pendent  clairvoyant  to  be  capable  of  taking  cognizance  of 
all  that  was  to  be  found  in  the  ship’s  records. 

It  is  extremely  improbable,  however,  that  any  third  party 
figured  in  the  transaction,  or  that  it  is  necessary  to  assume 
that  any  third  party  knew  of  the  loan.  It  is  sufficient  to 
know  that  the  captain  was  aboard  the  ship,  and  that  every¬ 
one  on  the  vessel  was  necessarily  en  rapport  with  him. 
Besides,  if  any  one  in  the  circle  was  in  telepathic  rapport 
with  the  captain,  it  would  be  an  all-sufficient  explanation  of 
the  phenomenon ;  for  it  is  well  known  that  specific  infor- 


THE  PHENOMENA  OF  SPIRITISM.  235 

mation,  not  known  to  any  one  in  the  circle,  can  be  obtained 
from  some  one  having  the  knowledge  who  happens  to  be 
eti  rapport  with  any  person  in  the  circle. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  there  are  at  least  four  ways  of 
accounting  for  the  phenomenon,  on  well-established  prin¬ 
ciples,  without  the  necessity  of  resorting  to  the  assumption 
of  supernatural  agencies. 

The  subtle  role  which  telepathy  plays  in  so-called  spirit 
manifestations  must  now  be  apparent.  It  is  not  only  in 
the  class  of  phenomena  to  which  we  have  alluded  that  its 
power  is  manifest,  but  it  reappears  in  all  classes  and  phases 
of  phenomena  popularly  attributed  to  spirits.  The  greater 
part  of  the  mystery  which  surrounds  these  manifestations, 
aside  from  the  purely  physical  phenomena,  is  directly  trace¬ 
able  to  telepathy ;  and  it  explains  that  which,  without  its 
aid,  would  be  inexplicable  on  any  other  hypothesis  than 
that  the  manifestations  proceed  from  disembodied  spirits. 

In  concluding  the  discussion  of  this  branch  of  the  subject, 
I  desire  distinctly  to  impress  upon  the  mind  of  the  reader 
an  important  proposition  which  seems  to  have  been  lost 
sight  of  by  many  who  are  otherwise  inclined  to  give  full 
credit  to  telepathy  as  a  means  of  explaining  many  so-called 
spirit  phenomena.  It  is  this  :  — 

It  is  not  necessary  that  any  member  of  a  circle  should  be 
in  possession  of  objective  knowledge  of  a  fact  i7i  order  to  be 
able  to  communicate  it  felepathically  to  the  mediian. 

The  reason  will  be  obvious,  after  a  moment’s  reflection, 
to  any  one  who  admits  the  existence  of  the  power  of  tel¬ 
epathy.  If  the  power  is  possessed  by  A  to  communicate 
a  telepathic  message  to  B,  it  follows  that  B  can  communi¬ 
cate  the  same  message  to  C,  and  C  can  convey  it  to  D, 
and  so  on,  ad  infinitum.  This  proposition  will  not  be 
gainsaid  by  any  one  who  admits  that  A  can  convey  a  tel¬ 
epathic  message  to  B.  D  may  have  no  objective  knowl¬ 
edge  of  A  or  of  B,  but  is  en  rapport  with  C.  Now,  we 
will  suppose  that  a  disaster  happens  to  A.  He  is  missing  j 
he  is  drowned ;  but  no  one  possesses  any  objective  knowl¬ 
edge  of  the  fact,  and  his  friends  institute  a  vain  search,  no 


236  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


one  having  the  remotest  idea  of  what  has  happened  to  him. 
B,  his  mother,  receives  a  telepathic  message,  conveyed  by 
A  at  the  moment  of  his  death  to  her  subjective  mind,  in¬ 
forming  her  of  the  sad  accident.  But  not  being  sensitive 
to  subjective  impressions,  it  is  impossible  for  her  subjec¬ 
tive  mind  to  convey  the  message  above  the  threshold  of 
her  consciousness.  She  is,  therefore,  objectively  ignorant 
of  the  fact,  although  her  subjective  mind  is  fully  cogni¬ 
zant  of  all  its  sad  details.  In  the  mean  time,  C,  a  sympa¬ 
thetic  neighbor,  en  rapport  with  B,  subjectively  perceives 
that  which  is  so  strongly  impressed  upon  the  subjective  mind 
of  the  mother.  C  is  also  unable  to  elevate  the  knowledge 
above  the  threshold  of  her  consciousness  •,  but  she  is  a  be¬ 
liever  in  spiritism,  and  volunteers  to  visit  a  neighboring  city 
and  consult  a  medium.  She  does  so  ;  and  the  moment  she 
becomes  en  7-apport  with  the  medium,  the  telepathic  mes¬ 
sage  is  delivered,  and  the  medium  perceives,  objectively 
as  well  as  subjectively,  the  details  of  the  disaster  which 
befell  A.  He  describes  the  whole  transaction,  and  locates 
the  exact  spot  where  the  body  may  be  found.  Subsequent 
investigation  demonstrates  the  exact  knowledge  possessed 
by  the  medium,  for  the  whole  environment  is  found  to  be 
exactly  as  described,  and  the  body  is  found  in  the  very 
spot  indicated. 

Now,  the  spiritists  say  that  this  occurrence  cannot  be 
explained  by  reference  to  telepathy,  for  the  reason  that  D 
was  not  eii  rapport  with  A,  nor  with  B.  Nor  was  C  en 
rapport  with  A,  for  the  latter  was  dead  before  C  could 
have  become  cognizant  of  the  facts.  The  obvious  answer 
to  this  is,  as  before  indicated,  that  if  the  power  exists  in 
man  to  convey  a  telepathic  message  to  his  fellow-man,  it 
presupposes  the  existence  of  the  power  in  the  percipient 
to  repeat  the  message  to  a  third  person,  and  so  on  indefi¬ 
nitely,  until  some  one  receives  it  who  has  the  power  to 
elevate  the  information  above  the  threshold  of  his  con¬ 
sciousness,  and  thus  convey  it  to  the  objective  intelligence 
of  the  world.  Nor  is  the  element  of  time  necessarily 
an  adverse  factor  in  the  case ;  for  there  is  no  reason  to 


THE  PHENOMENA  OF.  SPIRITISM. 


237 


suppose  that  such  messages  may  not  be  transmitted  from 
one  to  another  for  generations.  Thus,  the  particulars  of  a 
tragedy  might  be  revealed  many  years  after  the  event,  and 
in  such  a  way  as  to  render  it  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to 
trace  the  line  through  which  the  intelligence  was  transmitted. 
For  the  spiritist  the  easy  and  ever-ready  explanation  of  such 
a  phenomenon  is  to  ascribe  it  to  the  intervention  of  spirits 
of  the  dead.  But  to  those  who  have  kept  pace  with  the  de¬ 
velopments  of  modern  scientific  investigation,  and  who  are 
able  to  draw  the  legitimate  and  necessary  conclusions  from 
the  facts  discovered,  the  explanation  is  obvious,  without  the 
necessity  of  entering  the  domain  of  the  supernatural. 


“ 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


THE  PHENOMENA  OF  SPIRITISM  {conti?lUed'), 

Psychometry.  —  “  The  Souls  of  Things.” —  Professor  Denton’s  Experi¬ 
ments. —  Wonderful  Visions  of  the  Ancient  Environment  of  Geo¬ 
logical  Specimens.  —  A  Piece  of  Mortar  from  Cicero’s  House. — 
Supposed  Scientific  Tests.  —  Explanation  on  Telepathic  Principles. 

—  Experiments  in  Hypnotism  compared.  —  Clairvoyance  and 
Telepathy.  —  Their  Boundary  Lines  in  'Transit. — Clairaudience, 

—  Definitions  of  the  Term.  —  Socrates  and  his  Daemon.  —  Modern 
Instances.  —  Mental  Impressions.  —  Premonitions.  —  Their  Un¬ 
reliability. —  Remarkable  Examples  of  Clairaudience.  —  A  Law¬ 
yer’s  Experience.  —  Subject  to  the  Law  of  Suggestion.  —  Insanity 
sometimes  results  from  Ignorance  of  the  Cause.  —  Practical 
Suggestions. 


HERE  is  another  class  of  phenomena  which  has  at- 


^  traded  a  great  deal  of  public  attention,  and  which 
demands  a  passing  notice  in  this  connection.  It  is  that 
class  which  has  received  an  exhaustive  treatment  in  the 
work  of  the  late  Professor  Denton,  entitled  “  The  Souls  of 
Things.”  It  has  been  denominated  “  psychometry,”  which 
may  be  defined  as  the  supposed  power  of  the  human  mind 
to  discern  the  history  of  inanimate  objects  by  clairvoyance. 
Many  wonderful  stories  are  related  of  the  exercise  of  this 
supposed  faculty,  under  the  strictest  test  conditions,  as  test 
conditions  were  then  understood.  Professor  Denton  made 
a  long  series  of  experiments  with  his  sister,  his  wife,  and 
some  others  who  were  supposed  to  possess  that  power  in  a. 
remarkable  degree.  The  powers  of  his  wife  and  sister  were 
indeed  wonderful ;  but,  as  we  shall  see,  not  in  the  line  in 
which  the  experiments  were  directed.  It  must  be  pre- 


THE  PHENOMENA  OF  SPIRITISM. 


239 


mised  that  the  professor  was  a  very  learned  man,  not  only 
in  his  specialty,  which  was  geology,  but  in  all  branches  of 
human  knowledge.  His  wife  and  sister  were  also  highly 
cultivated  women,  and  were  specially  interested  in  those 
branches  of  learning  in  which  the  gifted  professor  excelled. 
'I'hus  the  conditions  were  extremely  favorable  for  the  pro¬ 
duction  of  extraordinary  results  in  whatever  branch  of 
occult  science  they  might  jointly  engage. 

It  was  the  habit  of  the  professor  to  select  some  geologi¬ 
cal  specimen,  or  a  fragment  of  some  historical  structure, 
and  submit  it  to  his  percipient  for  her  version  of  its  history. 
She  would  readily  enter  a  partially  subjective  condition, 
place  the  relic  on  her  head,  and  at  once  give  a  very  plau¬ 
sible,  and  oftentimes  a  most  wonderfully  accurate,  history 
of  the  scenes  which  had  been  enacted  within  its  former 
environment.  'I’hus,  if  the  object  happened  to  be  a  geo¬ 
logical  specimen,  she  would  launch  out  into  a  glowing 
description  of  its  surroundings  when  found,  and  going  back 
into  its  history  before  the  earth’s  crust  was  formed,  trace  it 
down  through  the  different  geological  changes  until  she 
landed  it  in  the  professor’s  cabinet.  Again,  a  piece  of  mor¬ 
tar  from  the  dwelling  of  Cicero  would  be  handed  to  her,  and 
she  would  give  a  vivid  description  of  the  domestic  life  of 
those  who  had  occupied  the  mansion,  and  describe  historic 
events  which  “might  have  been  seen”  from  the  ancient 
habitat  of  the  piece  of  mortar.  It  is  easy  to  see  how  all 
this  might  be  accomplished,  and  all  the  known  facts  stated 
with  accuracy,  regarding  the  geological  environment  of  the 
piece  of  stone  in  her  hands,  when  her  own  geological  learn¬ 
ing  was  taken  into  consideration.  But  the  professor  was 
not  unmindful  of  so  obvious  an  explanation  of  her  power. 
'I'o  eliminate  that  element  was  his  first  care.  To  that  end 
he  would  wrap  the  specimen  in  a  piece  of  paper,  and  care¬ 
fully  conceal  its  character  from  her  objective  knowledge. 
The  result  was  always  the  same.  She  would  read  the  his¬ 
tory  of  the  specimen  with  the  same  apparent  accuracy 
as  before.  I’he  professor,  however,  did  not  forget  the 
possibility  that  telepathy  was  an  element  necessary  to  be 


THE  LAW  OF  FEYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


eliminated.  The  possibility  that  she  might  read  what  was 
in  his  own  mind  must,  therefore,  be  provided  against.  To 
that  end  he  wrapped  a  large  number  of  specimens  in  pack- 
ages  as  nearly  alike  as  possible,  and  mixed  them  together 
so  that  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  know  them  apart.  One 
specimen  after  another  would  then  be  handed  her,  and 
each  one  would  be  described  with  the  same  accuracy  as 
before.  This  was  considered  the  supreme  test,  and  the 
doctrine  that  “things,”  in  common  with  men,  have  “souls,” 
was  thought  to  be  demonstrated.  The  Orientalists  would 
say  that  he  had  demonstrated  that  the  history  of  all  things 
is  “recorded  in  the  astral  light,”  whatever  that  may  be. 
I’he  spiritist  would  say  that  the  spirits  of  dead  men  had 
given  her  the  information. 

The  'true  explanation  is  obvious  to  those  who  are  ac¬ 
quainted  with  the  facts  of  telepathy.  The  professor  was  an 
eminent  geologist  and  a  classical  scholar.  In  his  subjective 
mind  was  the  history  of  every  geological  specimen  in  his 
possession,  pictured  clearly  and  vividly,  according  to  the 
theories  of  the  best  geologists  of  his  generation.  His  im¬ 
agination  carried  him  back  to  the  time  when  chaos  reigned 
supreme.  He  followed  the  fragment  of  rock  down  through 
all  the  changes  which  took  place  in  the  earth’s  structure, 
until  it  became  a  part  of  the  solid  mass  of  rock  from  which 
it  was  taken.  In  the  ever-changing  environment  of  that 
fragment,  since  the  time  when  it  was  a  part  of  a  vast  mass 
of  molten  matter,  there  was  material  for  pictures  of  the  sub- 
limest  scenes  incident  to  the  formation  of  a  world.  Those 
pictures,  to  the  imagination  of  every  geologist  worthy  of  the 
title,  are  ever  present  and  intensely  vivid.  A  fragment  of 
rock  to  him  is  an  open  book,  in  which  are  recorded  the 
history  of  the  sublimest  works  of  Omnipotence,  and  his 
imagination  supplies  the  panoramic  illustrations.  In  ex¬ 
periments  such  as  have  been  described,  these  pictures 
are  necessarily  presented  to  the  subjective  mind  of  the 
percipient  in  a  form  so  clear  and  vivid  that  she  would 
be  insensate  indeed  if  she  failed  to  describe  them  in 
appro])riate  terms.  And  when  we  consider  the  fact  that 


THE  PHENOMENA  OF  SPIRITISM. 


241 


the  percipients  employed  in  these  experiments  were  ex¬ 
ceptionally  cultivated  women,  especially  interested  in  the 
subjects  of  the  professor’s  research,  it  will  be  seen  that 
successful  telepathic  experiments  were  to  them  exception¬ 
ally  easy. 

The  successful  reading  of  the  history  of  the  specimens 
submitted  to  the  percipients  is  therefore  easily  accounted 
for  where  the  professor  had  conscious  knowledge  of  the 
contents  of  the  packages.  It  remains  only  to  explain  the 
reason  of  success  when  he  sought  to  eliminate  that  element 
by  submitting  a  large  number  of  similar  packages,  not  con¬ 
sciously  knowing  one  from  the  other.  This  also  is  easy  to 
understand  when  the  extraordinary  acumen  of  the  subjective 
mind  is  considered.  It  is  a  common  hypnotic  experiment 
to  draw  a  blank  card  from  a  package,  hand  it  to  a  subject, 
and  suggest  that  it  contains  a  picture  of  some  person.  The 
card  is  then  marked  on  the  back  and  shuffled  with  fifty  or 
more  others.  A  good  subject  will,  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten, 
indicate  the  marked  card  as  the  one  containing  the  sug¬ 
gested  picture,  and  that  without  the  possibility  of  seeing  the 
mark  on  the  other  side.  It  is  obviously  a  much  easier  feat 
to  remember  the  differences  in  packages  than  in  blank 
cards.  Of  the  former,  no  two  could  possibly  be  alike.  Of 
the  latter,  no  two  would  ordinarily  be  sufflciently  unlike  to 
enable  one  to  tletermine  the  difference  by  the  unaided 
senses.  Hut  to  the  subjective  mind  the  feat  of  remember¬ 
ing  eacli  package  and  its  contents  would  be  very  easy, 
compared  with  thousands  of  recorded  instances  to  be  found 
in  the  literature  of  psychic  phenomena. 

It  will  be  observed  that  we  have  refrained  from  invoking 
the  aid  of  clairvoyance  to  account  for  the  phenomena  ot 
psychometry.  It  would  be  a  much  simpler  solution  of  the 
problem  to  assume  that  the  power  of  independent  clair¬ 
voyance  exists,  and  that  the  percipients  simply  saw  the  con¬ 
tents  of  the  packages.  But  inasmuch  as  the  known  facts 
of  telepathy  afford  a  perfect  solution,  we  are  not  logically 
justified  in  entering  a  domain  which  is  in  the  slightest 
degree  overshadowed  by  doubt.  By  this  remark  it  is  not 

16 


242  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


meant  to  imply  that  there  is  any  doubt  of  the  existence  of  a 
power  which  is  generally  known  as  clairvoyance,  but  that 
its  limitations  are  as  yet  undecided.  That  is  to  say,  the 
boundary  line  between  clairvoyance  and  telepathy  is  not  at 
present  clearly  drawn.  The  field  of  clairvoyance  is  con¬ 
stantly  narrowing  its  boundaries.  Thus,  a  few  years  ago 
every  perception  of  a  fact  not  cognizable  by  the  senses 
was  attributed  either  to  clairvoyance  or  to  spirits.  Sceptics 
on  the  latter  subject  were  wont  to  explain  certain  phenomena 
by  attributing  them  to  the  former.  The  phenomena  which 
could  not  thus  be  explained  were  relegated  to  the  domain 
of  fraud  and  legerdemain.  When  the  phenomena  of  tele¬ 
pathy  became  better  understood,  the  field  of  clairvoyance 
was  greatly  narrowed,  as  it  was  found  that  most  of  the  phe¬ 
nomena  before  explained  by  clairvoyance  were  really  due  to 
telepathic  communion.  But  the  powers  and  limitations  of 
telepathy  are  not  yet  clearly  marked  ;  and  it  is  found  that 
every  step  in  advance  in  the  knowledge  of  its  principles  by 
just  so  much  narrows  the  field  of  clairvoyance.  No  better 
illustration  of  this  fact  could  be  given  than  the  phenomena 
of  psychometry,  which  we  have  just  been  considering.  The 
power  to  read  the  history  of  a  geological  specimen  with  a 
plausible  show  of  accuracy  was  first  attributed  to  clairvoy¬ 
ance.  As  telepathic  powers  began  to  be  understood,  it  was 
thought  that  possibly  the  percipient  simply  related  what 
was  read  in  the  mind  of  the  agent.  Many  experiments 
were  made  throughout  the  country  which  demonstrated 
that  fact,  and  the  recognized  field  of  clairvoyance  was 
thereby  curtailed.  But  Professor  Denton  determined  to 
eliminate  the  element  of  telepathy  by  so  disposing  of  his 
relics  as  to  divest  himself  of  all  knowledge  of  the  particu¬ 
lar  one  under  examination.  When  the  percipient  exhibited 
the  same  powers  of  discernment  under  those  circumstances 
it  was  thought  that  the  element  of  telepathy  was  elim¬ 
inated,  and  that  the  power  of  clairvoyance  was  demon¬ 
strated.  But  as  the  knowledge  of  telepathy  is  increased, 
and  when  it  is  understood  that  telepathy  is  the  communion 
of  subjective  minds,  and  that  the  subjective  mind  is  endowed 


THE  PHENOMENA  OF  SPIRITISM. 


243 


with  transcendent  powers  in  certain  directions,  while  it 
is  hedged  about  with  limitations  in  others,  it  is  seen  that 
the  professor  did  not  succeed,  as  he  had  supposed,  in 
eliminating  the  element  of  telepathy.  Thus  the  field  of 
clairvoyance  is  again  curtailed,  and  that  of  telepathy  corre¬ 
spondingly  enlarged.  It  may  be  assumed,  therefore,  that 
the  boundary  lines  between  the  two  supposed  powers  are 
still  unmarked.  In  the  mean  time  it  is  unsafe  to  assume 
any  one  point  as  the  boundary,  or  even  to  assume  that  there 
is,  in  fact,  any  line  at  all.  Judgment  must  be  suspended 
until  telepathy  is  better  understood.  All  that  can  be  safely 
said  is  that  there  are  facts  which  cannot  as  yet  be  explained 
on  any  other  hypothesis  than  that  of  independent  clairvoy¬ 
ance.  When  we  come  across  such  a  fact  we  may  pro¬ 
visionally  assume  the  power  to  exist,  and  await  the  slow 
progress  of  experimental  knowledge  to  enable  us  to  classify 
the  fact  in  accordance  with  its  legitimate  relations.  It  is 
logically  safe  to  do  this  as  long  as  we  thus  avoid  the  neces¬ 
sity  of  wholesale  denials  of  demonstrated  facts  on  the  one 
hand,  and  on  the  other  refrain  from  entering  the  domain  of 
the  supernatural  in  search  of  a  hypothesis. 

It  is  thought  that  enough  has  now  been  said  to  explain 
the  part  which  telepathy  plays  in  the  phenomena  which  have 
been  considered,  and  also  to  enable  the  intelligent  reader 
to  apply  the  principles  to  all  other  classes  of  phenomena  in 
which  telepathy  constitutes  a  possible  factor.  It  is  con¬ 
stantly  reappearing  in  every  phase  of  psychic  phenomena, 
and  constitutes  a  factor  in  every  manifestation  of  intelligent 
power  involving  the  perception  of  that  which  is  beyond 
the  reach  of  the  senses. 

CLAIRAUDIENCE. 

The  next  subject  in  order  is  that  of  clairaudience,  or 
“  clear  hearing.”  It  is  a  faculty  of  the  human  mind  much 
more  rarely  developed  than  that  of  clairvoyance,  —  that  is, 
if  we  assume  the  latter  to  be  identical  with  telepathy,  which 
we  may  do  for  the  purposes  of  this  discussion. 


244  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


The  Century  Dictionary  defines  clairaudience  as  “  the 
supposed  power  of  hearing  in  a  mesmeric  trance  sounds 
which  are  not  audible  to  the  ear  in  the  natural  waking 
condition.” 

This,  as  far  as  it  goes,  is  a  correct  definition  of  that  faculty  •, 
but  it  defines  a  very  small  part  of  its  field  of  operations, 
and  that  part  which  is  of  the  least  importance.  It  may  be 
defined,  broadly,  to  be  “  the  power  of  hearing  the  spoken 
words  of  a  human  soul.”  In  other  words,  it  is  that  fac¬ 
ulty  of  man’s  intelligence  which  enables  his  objective  mind 
to  receive  communications  from  his  own  subjective  mind 
or  from  that  of  another  by  means  of  spoken  words.  It 
is  one  means  of  bringing  the  operations  of  the  subjective 
mind  above  the  threshold  of  consciousness.  The  power 
is  by  no  means  confined  to  persons  in  a  mesmeric  trance, 
although  it  seems  probable  that  one  must  be  in  a  partially 
subjective  state  to  enable  him  to  hear  clairaudiently.  The 
degree  of  subjectivity  may  be  very  slight,  so  that  the  per¬ 
cipient  may  seem  to  himself  and  others  to  be  in  a  perfectly 
normal  condition.  The  sounds  —  if  that  may  be  called 
sound  which  does  not  cause  atmospheric  vibrations  —  are 
perfectly  distinct  to  the  consciousness  of  the  percipient,  but 
are  not  perceptible  to  others  who  may  be  near  him  and  in 
the  normal  condition. 

Like  all  other  means  for  bringing  the  operations  of  the 
subjective  mind  above  the  threshold  of  consciousness,  the 
sounds  have  from  time  immemorial  been  attributed  to 
supernatural  agencies.  Socrates  furnished  the  most  notable 
example  in  ancient  or  modern  times  of  a  man  whose  sub¬ 
jective  mind  was  able  at  any  time  to  communicate  mes¬ 
sages  to  his  objective  mind  by  means  of  spoken  words.  It 
is  well  known  that  he  supposed  himself  to  be  constantly  at¬ 
tended  by  a  daemon,  or  guardian  spirit,  who  watched  over 
him  and  warned  him  of  any  danger  that  was  imminent. 
(See  Chapter  X.  for  a  fuller  discussion  of  Socrates  and  his 
daemon.)  The  biblical  student  will  recall  to  mind  many 
instances  where  voices  were  heard,  conveying  intelligence 
of  the  most  portentous  character,  and  a  critical  examination 


THE  PHENOMENA  OF  SPIRITISM. 


245 

of  some  of  the  instances  will  not  fail  to  reveal  their  true 
nature. 

Many  spiritual  mediums  of  the  present  day  have  the  fac¬ 
ulty  largely  developed.  Some  of  them  are  enabled  to  ob¬ 
tain  the  names  of  their  sitters  by  hearing  them  spoken 
clairaudiently,  and  the  names  of  supposed  spirits  are  ob¬ 
tained  in  the  same  way.  It  is  popularly  supposed  that  the 
ordinary  method  of  telepathic  communion,  when  the  mes¬ 
sage  is  not  brought  above  the  threshold  of  consciousness, 
is  by  mental  impressions.  It  is,  of  course,  impossible  for 
us  to  know  the  processes  employed  in  the  ordinary  com¬ 
munion  of  subjective  minds.  It  seems  probable,  however, 
that  it  is  by  means  of  such  language  as  is  employed  by  the 
communicants  in  objective  life.  All  that  is  or  can  be  known 
is,  that  when  the  ideas  are  communicated  to  the  conscious 
mind,  it  is  necessarily  by  such  means  as  can  be  under¬ 
stood,  —  that  is,  by  means  which  appeal  to  the  senses.  It 
is  true  that  the  subjective  mind  is  often  able  strongly  to 
impress  the  objective  mind,  especially  when  danger  to  the 
person  is  imminent,  or  when  some  near  relative  or  dear 
friend  is  in  danger.  Such  impressions  are  known  as  pre¬ 
monitions.  Sometimes  they  are  so  strong  as  to  be  of  real 
service  in  averting  danger.  But  they  are  not  always  reli¬ 
able,  for  the  reason  that  we  are  seldom  able  to  distinguish  a 
real  premonition  from  that  feeling  arising  from  fear  and 
anxiety  regarding  the  welfare  of  those  who  are  absent  and 
very  dear  to  us.  Thus,  a  mother  will  often  feel  that  she 
has  a  premonition  of  danger  to  an  absent  child,  but  will 
afterwards  learn  that  her  fears  were  groundless.  Perhaps 
at  another  time  a  real  premonition  will  be  disregarded.  It 
seems  probable  that  when  the  laws  of  subjective  mental 
action  are  better  understood,  there  may  be  some  method 
formulated  by  which  a  genuine  premonition  may  be  recog¬ 
nized.  It  is  certain  that  in  all  cases  where  danger  to  the 
person  is  imminent,  the  subjective  mind  makes  a  supreme 
effort  to  give  warning  and  avert  the  danger.  That  being  its 
normal  function,  its  highest  activity  is  exercised  in  the 
effort  to  preser\"e  the  life  of  the  individual.  It  is  some- 


246  THE  LA  IF  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


times  successful,  and  sometimes  not ;  but  that  the  effort  is 
always  made  does  not  admit  of  doubt.  Sometimes  it  suc¬ 
ceeds  by  means  most  extraordinary,  —  clairaudience  not 
infrequently  being  the  means  of  receiving  the  warning. 
Thus,  a  lady  once  confessed  to  the  writer  that  she  at  one 
time,  in  a  fit  of  despondency  arising  from  ill  health,  at¬ 
tempted  to  commit  suicide.  She  had  raised  a  pistol  to  her 
head  and  was  about  to  fire,  when  she  heard  an  explosive 
sound,  apparently  in  the  same  room,  resembling  a  pistol- 
shot.  This  caused  her  to  pause  for  an  instant,  when  she 
heard  the  words,  apparently  spoken  in  her  ear,  “Not  now; 
you  have  two  years  yet  !  ”  Surprise  caused  her  to  lower 
the  pistol,  and  reflection  caused  her  to  desist,  and  finally  to 
abandon  the  idea  of  suicide.  As  the  two  years  have  not 
yet  expired,  it  is  too  early  to  know  whether  it  is  a  case  of 
prevision  as  well  as  of  clairaudience. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  cases  of  clairaudient  warning 
against  danger  that  has  ever  come  under  the  observation  of 
the  writer  occurred  near  Washington  a  short  time  ago.  A 
well-known  colored  preacher  was  aboard  a  train  on  its  way 
to  the  city.  He  was  dozing  in  his  seat  a  few  miles  out, 
when  he  was  suddenly  awakened  by  a  cry  of  “  Wreck  ! 
wreck  !  ”  apparently  sounding  in  his  ears.  He  thought  for 
a  moment  that  he  had  been  dreaming  ;  but  after  he  was 
fully  awake  he  again  heard  the  same  words  repeated  three 
times.  As  he  happened  to  be  the  only  occupant  of  the  car, 
he  knew  that  no  one  was  playing  a  trick  upon  him,  and  he 
instantly  became  panic-stricken,  and  rushed  to  the  rear  end 
of  the  car  and  jumped  off,  although  the  train  was  going  at 
the  rate  of  thirty  miles  an  hour.  He  was  somewhat  cut  and 
bruised,  but  managed  to  walk  to  the  next  station,  where  he 
related  his  adventure  to  my  informant.  Little  importance 
was  attached  to  the  circumstance  at  that  time,  as  his  train 
passed  to  the  city  in  safety.  But  the  very  next  train  that 
passed  over  the  road  in  the  same  direction  was  wrecked  by 
the  falling  of  a  large  rock  upon  it  as  it  passed.  The  rock 
overhung  the  track,  and  had  evidently  become  loosened  by 
the  vibrations  caused  by  passing  trains.  Subsequent  inves- 


THE  PHENOMENA  OF  SPIRITISM. 


247 


tigation  by  my  informant  revealed  the  fact  that  the  old 
preacher  had  leaped  from  the  train  but  a  short  distance 
beyond  the  scene  of  the  wreck. 

Now,  it  may  be  asked,  how  do  we  connect  the  clairau- 
dient  warning  of  the  old  man  with  the  wreck  which  did  not 
occur  to  his  train?  It  must  be  admitted  that  the  circum¬ 
stances  do  not  constitute  an  ideally  perfect  case  of  a  life 
saved  by  a  clairaudient  reception  of  warning  but  it  must 
also  be  held  that  the  case  is  of  all  the  greater  evidential 
value  for  that  very  reason.  It  is  easy  to  perceive  how  the 
old  man’s  subjective  mind  perceived  the  danger,  when  it 
is  once  admitted  that  it  possesses  the  power  to  see  that 
which  is  not  within  the  range  of  objective  vision.  Ever 
alert  for  the  safety  of  the  individual,  it  perceived  the  dan¬ 
ger,  no  matter  how.  It  saw  the  condition  of  the  overhang¬ 
ing  rock,  and  believed  that  that  train  would  loosen  its  hold. 
In  the  mean  time  the  old  man  was  in  that  passive,  somnolent 
condition  most  favorable  for  the  reception  of  subjective 
impressions  or  communications.  He  happened  also  to  be 
clairaudient,  and  therefore  in  the  best  possible  condition 
for  the  conveyance  of  subjective  messages  above  the  thresh¬ 
old  of  consciousness.  And  the  message  was  delivered  in 
the  most  effective  way  possible,  —  in  the  same  way  in  which 
Socrates  was  again  and  again  warned  of  impending  danger. 
That  the  catastrophe  did  not  happen  to  his  train  proves 
only  that  the  intelligence  which  gave  the  warning  was 
finite,  that  its  knowledge  was  circumscribed  by  the  limita¬ 
tions  of  human  judgment,  and  that  it  did  not  proceed  from 
Omniscience. 

It  may  be  here  remarked  that  this  incident  seems  difficult 
to  explain  on  any  other  hypothesis  than  that  of  independent 
clairvoyance.  To  explain  it  on  the  principle  of  telepathy 
would  involve  the  necessity  of  presupposing  that  some  per¬ 
son  or  persons  knew  of  the  dangerous  situation  of  the  rock, 
and  that  they  were  in  telepathic  rapport  with  the  percipient. 
Either  supposition  seems  improbable,  although  not  impos¬ 
sible.  Be  this  as  it  may  be,  the  fact  remains  that  the  sub¬ 
jective  mind  of  man  has  some  means  of  reaching  out  beyond 


248  the  law  of  psychic  phenomena. 

the  range  of  our  faculties  of  objective  perception,  and  of 
knowing  when  and  where  danger  threatens  the  individual. 
That  it  is  constantly  on  the  alert  for  that  purpose,  is  also 
certain. 

But  its  efforts  are  not  directed  exclusively  to  the  protec¬ 
tion  of  the  body  from  harm.  It  is  also  on  the  alert  for  the 
protection  of  the  material  interests  of  the  individual,  and  for 
the  advancement  of  whatever  aims  and  objects  he  has  in 
life.  These  objects  are,  of  course,  subsidiary  to  the  main 
one,  being  means  to  the  end  in  view,  —  namely,  the  preser¬ 
vation  of  human  life.  One  of  the  most  eminent  lawyers 
in  the  United  States  informs  me  confidentially  that  he  is 
often  guided,  in  critical  emergencies,  by  a  voice  which 
gives  him  in  a  single,  concise  sentence  the  key  to  the  situa¬ 
tion.  All  the  years  of  his  adult  life  this  voice  has  warned 
him  of  impending  danger,  and  guided  him  to  the  attain¬ 
ment  of  the  objects  of  his  ambition.  He  did  not,  in  early 
life,  entertain  any  well-defined  theory  on  the  subject  of  the 
origin  of  the  voice,  but  has  always  been  guided  by  its 
monitions,  and  never  to  his  disadvantage.  Of  late  years, 
how'ever,  he  has  become  convinced  of  its  true  source,  and 
now  regards  his  faculty  as  of  the  most  transcendent  interest 
and  scientific  importance,  to  say  nothing  of  its  value  as  a 
personal  mentor. 

It  seems  probable  that  the  faculty  might  be  cultivated  to 
an  unlimited  extent,  provided  its  true  source  could  be  re¬ 
cognized  early  in  life  and  its  monitions  heeded.  It  is  also 
probable  that  most  people  have  occasionally  heard  clairaudi- 
ently,  though  but  few  have  paid  attention  to  the  phenome¬ 
non  ;  and  those  who  have  done  so  have  either  attributed  it  to 
imagination,  or  regarded  it  as  a  subjective  hallucination.  In 
either  case  the  auto-suggestion  would  necessarily  prevent 
the  development  of  the  faculty.  It  sometimes  happens, 
however,  that  spirit  mediums  develop  the  faculty  to  a  re¬ 
markable  extent.  As  they  attribute  the  phenomena  to 
extraneous  sources,  the  suggestion  necessarily  results  in 
corresponding  phenomena.  It  is  needless  to  remark  that 
the  same  law  of  suggestion  which  prevails  in  the  production 


THE  PHENOMENA  OF  SPIRITISM. 


249 


of  other  phenomena  governs  the  character  of  clairaudient 
manifestations.  Thus,  if  the  suggestion  is  entertained  that 
the  voice  proceeds  from  a  disembodied  spirit,  or  from  the 
guardian  angel  of  the  percipient,  the  character  suggested 
will  be  assumed  by  the  subjective  entity,  and  future  com¬ 
munications  will  be  conducted  on  that  basis.  It  may  thus 
be  made  to  assume  the  character  of  an  angel  or  of  a  devil, 
just  as  the  suggestion  happens  to  be  made,  'bhe  suggestion, 
in  the  present  state  of  knowledge  on  the  subject  of  psychic 
phenomena,  must  depend  altogether  upon  accident,  or  the 
education  and  habits  of  thought  of  the  individual. 

Doubtless,  many  persons  have  been  made  insane  by  con¬ 
stantly  hearing  what  they  supposed  to  be  spirit  voices.  Not 
knowing  the  true  origin  of  the  phenomenon,  they  endow 
it  with  whatever  character  happens  to  suggest  itself,  and 
it  readily  assumes  to  be  whatever  is  suggested  ;  or  it  may 
assume  a  dozen  different  characters,  if  the  person  hap¬ 
pens  to  imagine  their  existence.  The  effect  can  readily 
be  conceived  when  one  is  persuaded  that  he  is  beset  by 
supernatural  beings.  Insane  people  are  often  seen  to  be 
engaged  in  conversation  with  some  imaginary  person,  and 
when  we  say  of  such  a  soliloquist,  “  He  is  talking  to  him¬ 
self,”  we  are  wiser  than  we  think ;  for  that  is  the  fact. 
But  the  individual  thought  he  was  in  conversation  with 
supernatural  beings.  We  are  accustomed  to  regard  such 
conversations  as  symptoms  of  insanity,  whereas  they  are 
oftentimes  the  cause  of  insanity.  The  patient  for  some 
reason  develops  the  faculty  of  clairaudience.  He  imagines 
that  the  voice  proceeds  from  some  extraneous  source.  His 
superstition  causes  him  to  ascribe  it  to  spirits.  He  con¬ 
stantly  develops  the  faculty  by  practice,  until  he  becomes 
a  monomaniac  on  the  subject.  His  subjective  mind,  domi¬ 
nated  by  an  all-potent,  but  false,  suggestion,  gradually  ob¬ 
tains  control  of  the  objective  faculties,  and  Reason  abdicates 
her  throne.  The  man  is  insane,  just  as  all  men  are  insane 
who  allow  their  subjective  minds  to  obtain  the  ascendency. 
This  is,  of  course,  an  extreme  case ;  but  it  is  less  rare  than 
many  suppose.  Our  asylums  are  full  of  men  and  women 


250  THE  LAW  OF  FSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


who,  in  one  way  or  another,  are  dominated  by  their  subjec¬ 
tive  minds,  acting  in  obedience  to  false  suggestions  which 
have  been  dwelt  upon  so  long  that  reason  is  powerless  to 
combat  them. 

The  lesson  is  obvious.  We  should  learn  first  of  all  that 
the  subjective  entity  within  each  of  us,  whilst  it  is  endowed 
with  transcendent  powers,  is  also  circumscribed  by  limita¬ 
tions  which  unfit  it  for  control  of  the  dual  man.  Having 
learned  this,  it  should  be  our  care  to  keep  reason  in  the 
ascendency,  and  to  control  the  subjective  mind  by  sugges¬ 
tions  which,  while  keeping  it  in  subordination,  will  direct  its 
powers  in  the  channel  of  its  legitimate  functions,  —  namely, 
the  preservation  and  perpetuation  of  the  human  species. 

Clairaudient  powers,  like  every  other  power  which  enables 
man  to  raise  the  operations  of  the  subjective  mind  above 
the  threshold  of  consciousness,  may  to  one  who  knows  the 
laws  which  govern  it,  who  appreciates  its  powers,  and  who 
is  aware  of  its  limitations,  become  a  source  of  decided  ad¬ 
vantage.  But  to  one  who  does  not  understand  those  laws, 
powers,  and  limitations,  those  faculties  may  prove  to  be  like 
the  wand  in  the  hand  of  the  slave  of  the  magician  in  the 
Eastern  tale.  He  saw  his  master  wave  his  wand,  and  heard 
him  give  orders  to  the  spirits  who  arose  at  his  command. 
The  slave  stole  the  wand,  waved  it  in  the  air,  and  summoned 
the  spirits.  They  came  at  his  summons,  but  tore  him  in 
pieces  instead  of  obeying  his  commands.  He  had  not  ob¬ 
served  that  his  master  used  his  left  hand  for  the  purpose  of 
conjuration. 

This  tale  was  told  for  the  purpose  of  illustrating  the  very 
point  which  we  have  sought  to  make.  The  fate  of  the 
magician’s  slave  was  no  worse  than  that  which  may  befall 
any  man  who  irregularly  summons  his  own  spirit,  without 
understanding  the  laws  which  enable  him  to  control  it  and 
make  it  useful  instead  of  destructive.  He  is  conjuring 
with  the  most  potential  force  of  nature  below  that  of 
Omnipoteiice, 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE  PHENOMENA  OF  SPIRITISM  {continued). 

The  Planchette.  —  Modifications.  —  Easily  operated,  —  Automatic 
Writing.  —  Governed  by  the  Universal  Law. —  The  Planchette  with¬ 
out  Spirits.  —  The  Planchette  and  Telepathy.  —  Trance.  —  Ancient 
and  Modern  Superstitions  relating  to  Trance.  —  Religious  Sys¬ 
tems  founded  on  Trance.  —  Visions. —  Swedenborg.  —  Oriental 
Philosophy.  —  Its  Slow  Growth  and  Stupendous  Proportions.  — 
Spiritistic  Philosophy. —  Its  Evolution. —  All  founded  on  Trance 
Visions  in  Ignorance  of  the  Law  of  Suggestion.  —  Cahagnet’s  Mes¬ 
meric  Seers.  —  Their  Revelations.  —  Objective  and  Subjective 
Visions. — Orthodoxy  and  Heterodoxy.  —  Visions  of  the  Holy 
Virgin.  —  The  Physical  and  Mental  Attitude  of  Prayer.  —  The 
Prayer  of  Faith. — Obsession.  —  Possession. — Casting  out  Dev¬ 
ils. —  Devils  out  of  Fashion.  —  The  Influence  of  Suggestion. — 
The  Element  of  Telepathy.  —  Dual  Personality.  —  Loss  of  Iden¬ 
tity. —  Characteristics. — The  Case  of  Ansel  Bourne. —  Possible 
Explanation.  —  A  Proof  of  the  Dual  Hypothesis.  —  Multiple 
Personality. 

Another  method  of  bringing  the  operations  of  the  sub¬ 
jective  mind  above  the  threshold  of  consciousness  is 
by  means  of  an  instrument  called  the  planchette.  It  con¬ 
sists  of  a  thin  board  about  six  inches  square,  resting  upon 
two  castors,  the  third  leg  consisting  of  a  pencil,  which 
passes  through  a  hole  in  the  board,  its  point  resting  upon 
the  paper  upon  which  the  instrument  is  designed  to  write. 
The  mode  of  operation  consists  in  resting  the  hand  lightly 
upon  the  board  and  allowing  it  to  move  over  the  paper 
without  consciously  aiding  its  progress.  In  the  hands  of  a 
medium  it  will  soon  begin  to  write,  apparently  propelled  by 
an  unseen  power.  A  modification  of  this  apparatus  is  now 


252  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 

on  the  market,  which  consists  of  a  similar  piece  of  thin 
board,  approximately  triangular  in  shape,  with  a  plain 
wooden  leg  at  each  apex.  Its  feet,  like  the  feet  of  the 
gods,  are  “shod  with  wool.”  Accompanying  it  is  a  board, 
say  two  feet  square,  on  which  the  letters  of  the  alphabet  and 
the  arable  numerals  are  painted.  Its  mode  of  operation  is 
similar  to  that  of  the  planchette,  except  that,  instead  of  a 
pencil  being  used,  one  of  the  legs  serves  as  a  pointer,  and 
the  words  are  spelled  out,  letter  by  letter,  as  indicated  by 
the  pointer,  which  moves  over  the  board  in  the  same  mys¬ 
terious  way  as  the  planchette.  Its  advantage  over  the 
planchette  consists  in  the  fact  that  a  greater  number  of 
persons  can  operate  it  satisfactorily.  Otherwise,  the  plan¬ 
chette  is  preferable,  inasmuch  as  it  writes  continuously,  in¬ 
stead  of  spelling  the  words  letter  by  letter.  In  almost 
every  family  some  one  will  be  found  who  can,  with  a  little 
practice,  obtain  communications  by  this  means  from  his 
own  subjective  mind.  This  is  the  simplest  way  by  which 
so-called  spirit  communications  can  be  obtained. 

Automatic  writing  is  a  cognate  method,  and  consists  in 
holding  a  pencil  in  the  hand  and  letting  it  write.  The  sub¬ 
jective  mind  assumes  control  of  the  muscles  and  nerves  of 
the  arm  and  hand,  and  propels  the  pencil,  the  objective 
mind  meantime  being  perfectly  quiescent,  and  often  totally 
oblivious  of  what  is  being  written.  A  smaller  number  of 
persons  can  acquire  this  faculty  than  either  of  the  others. 

We  assume,  of  course,  that  it  is  the  subjective  mind  of 
the  medium  that  directs  the  pencil.  The  same  laws  gov¬ 
ern  the  manifestations,  and  the  intelligence  is  hedged 
about  by  the  same  limitations.  Suggestion  plays  the  same 
subtle  rdle,  and  the  knowledge  of  the  subjects  of  the  com¬ 
munications  are  limited  by  that  of  the  medium  and  those 
with  whom  he  is  in  telepathic  rapport.  The  entity  that 
guides  the  pencil  almost  invariably  assumes  to  be  a  spirit, 
and  its  communications  necessarily  conform  to  the  charac¬ 
ter  assumed.  The  reason  of  this  is  obvious  when  we  con¬ 
sider  the  fact  that  automatic  writing  has  always  been 
associated  with  the  idea  of  spirit  communion.  The  uni- 


THE  PHENOMENA  OF  SPIRITISM. 


253 


versality  of  this  idea  constitutes  an  all-potent  suggestion 
which  cannot  easily  be  overcome.  Even  though  the 
medium  may  profess  to  be  a  sceptic  on  the  subject  of 
spirit  intercourse,  nevertheless  he  is  dominated  by  that 
suggestion,  in  the  absence  of  any  definite  counter-sugges¬ 
tion.  Obviously,  a  counter-suggestion  which  could  over¬ 
come  the  hypothesis  of  spirit  intercourse  must  be  in  the 
form  of  a  theory  which  appeals  more  strongly  to  the  reason 
of  the  medium  than  the  suggestion  of  spirit  intercourse. 
In  the  present  state  of  popular  opinion  on  the  subject  of 
spiritism  it  would  be  difficult  to  find  a  medium  whose  sub¬ 
jective  mind  would  not  be  dominated  by  the  popular  hypo¬ 
thesis.  Nevertheless,  instances  have  been  known  where 
the  popular  idea  did  not  prevail.  One  case  that  is  now 
recalled  is  reported  in  the  “  Proceedings  of  the  Society  for 
Psychical  Research,”  April,  1891  (page  23).  The  medium, 
or,  more  properly  speaking,  the  automatist,  was  a  young  lady, 
aged  fifteen.  “She  had  not  previously  heard  of  planchette,” 
says  the  author,  “  and  spiritualism  was  to  her  a  mere  name.” 
This  was  a  very  desirable  condition  of  mind  for  the  pur¬ 
pose,  and  as  rare  as  desirable.  “  She  never  knew  what  she 
had  written  till  it  was  looked  at,”  continues  the  author, 
“  and  there  was  often  some  slight  difficulty  in  deciphering 
it.  Thus,  the  first  question,  ‘  Who  are  you  that  write  ?  ’ 
produced  what  at  first  I  took  to  be  mere  scrawling,  and  C 
(the  automatist)  shortly  after  left  the  room.  After  she  had 
done  so,  I  took  another  look  at  this  scrawl,  and  then  at  once 
perceived  that  it  was  legible,  and  that  the  name  written  in 
answer  to  the  question  was  ‘  Henry  Morton.’  I  at  once 
followed  C  upstairs,  and  asked  her  if  she  had  ever 
heard  the  name ;  and  she  replied  that  it  was  that  of  a 
character  in  a  Christmas  play  she  had  acted  in,  more  than 
a  year  previously.” 

This  is  a  most  remarkable  case  in  more  ways  than  one. 
It  shows,  first,  that  when  the  automatist  knows  nothing 
of  spiritism,  and  there  is  consequently  no  suggestion  of 
the  spirits  having  any  part  in  the  performance,  the  sub¬ 
jective  mind  will  not  assume  that  it  is  a  spirit  that 


254  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 

writes ;  secondly,  that  the  bare  fact  that  the  question, 
“Who  are  you  that  write?  ”  is  asked,  amounts  to  a  sugges¬ 
tion  that  some  third  person  is  writing,  and  that  the  auto- 
matist  is  dominated  by  the  inference  drawn,  just  the  same 
as  if  the  suggestion  had  been  a  positive  statement.  The 
most  remarkable  part  of  it,  however,  is  the  persistency  with 
which  her  subjective  mind  clung  to  the  suggestion  that  she 
was  “  Henry  Morton.”  She  had  assumed  that  character 
more  than  a  year  before,  in  a  Christmas  play,  and  her  sub¬ 
jective  mind  still  identified  itself  with  the  imaginary  person¬ 
age,  and  believed  the  truth  of  the  suggestion  as  firmly  as  it 
would  have  believed  the  suggestion  that  it  was  a  disem¬ 
bodied  spirit,  had  that  suggestion  been  made.  The  author 
shows  an  intelligent  appreciation  of  this  fact  when  he  adds  : 
“  Had  the  name  been,  as  it  easily  might  have  been,  that  of 
some  deceased  friend,  it  is  obvious  what  inference  would 
have  been  drawn.”  It  is  also  obvious  that  it  would  have 
been  that  of  some  deceased  person,  had  the  young  lady 
been  acquainted  with  the  planchette  and  the  spiritistic 
hypothesis. 

Another  instance  of  automatic  writing  where  the  spirit¬ 
istic  hypothesis  was  ignored,  is  reported  in  the  “  Pro¬ 
ceedings  of  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research,”  vol.  iii. 
pages  8-23.  Space  can  be  given  to  a  brief  extract  only. 
The  experiments  were  tried  by  the  Rev.  P.  H.  Newnham 
and  his  wife,  the  latter  acting  as  the  automatist.  The  pri¬ 
mary  object  of  these  experiments  was  to  test  the  power 
of  thought-transference.  This  was  very  successfully  done, 
as  the  answers,  though  not  always  correct,  referred  to  the 
questions.  It  appears,  incidentally,  that  they  entertained 
a  different  hypothesis  from  the  usual  one,  as  will  appear 
from  the  answers  which  we  quote.  The  questions  were 
written  down  by  Mr.  Newnham,  and  no  hint  was  given  to 
the  operator  as  to  their  character  or  subject.  The  following 
are  fair  samples  :  — 

“  Q.  Is  it  the  operator’s  brain,  or  some  external  force,  that 
moves  the  planchette  ?  Answer  ‘  brain,’  or  ‘  force.’ 

A.  Will. 


THE  PHENOMENA  OF  SPIRITISM. 


255 


Q.  Is  it  the  will  of  a  living  person,  or  of  an  immaterial  spirit 
distinct  from  that  person  ?  Answer  ‘  person  ’  or  ‘  spirit.’ 

A.  Wife. 

Q.  Give  first  the  wife’s  Christian  name;  then  my  favorite 
name  for  her. 

A.  (This  was  accurately  done.) 

Q.  What  is  your  own  name  ? 

A.  Only  you. 

(2-  We  are  not  cjuite  sure  of  the  meaning  of  the  answer. 
Explain. 

A.  Wife.” 

At  a  subsequent  sitting  the  following  questions  and  an¬ 
swers  were  given  :  — 

“  Q.  Who  are  you  that  write  ? 

A.  Wife. 

Q.  But  does  no  one  tell  wife  what  to  write .?  If  so,  who? 

A.  Spirit. 

Q.  Whose  spirit  ? 

A.  Wife’s  brain. 

Q.  But  how  does  wife’s  brain  know  (certain)  secrets  ? 

A.  Wife’s  spirit  unconsciously  guides.” 

At  a  subsequent  seance  the  following  dialogue  occurred  : 

“  Q.  By  what  means  are  (unknown)  secrets  conveyed  to 
wife’s  brain  ? 

A.  What  you  call  mesmeric  influence. 

Q.  What  do  you  mean  by  ‘  what  you  call  ’  ?  What  do 
call  it  ? 

A.  Electro-biology. 

Q.  By  whom,  or  by  what,  is  the  electro-biologic  force  set  in 
motion  ? 

A  I  told  you  you  could  not  know  more  than  you  did. 

Q.  Can  wife  answer  a  question  the  reply  to  which  I  do  not 
know  ? 

A.  Why  do  you  try  to  make  me  say  what  I  won’t? 

Q.  Simply  because  I  desire  knowledge.  IVIiy  will  you  not 
tell? 

A.  Wife  could  tell  if  some  one  else,  with  a  very  strong  will, 
in  the  room  knew.” 

These  two  cases  clearly  demonstrate  the  proposition  that 
where  an  operator  can  be  found  who  is  not  dominated 


256  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


by  the  suggestion  embraced  in  the  spiritistic  hypothesis, 
he  will  not  assume  to  be  a  spirit.  If  he  does  entertain  the 
spirit  hypothesis,  he  will  assume  that  he  is  a  spirit,  and 
answer  accordingly.  The  mental  and  physical  phenomena 
are  the  same  in  the  one  case  as  in  the  other.  The  logical 
conclusion  is  this :  the  fact  that  the  intelligence  which 
operates  the  pencil  in  the  one  case  claims  that  it  is  a  dis¬ 
embodied  spirit  does  not  constitute  valid  evidence  that  it 
is  a  spirit.  VVe  must  look,  therefore,  to  other  sources  for 
evidence  of  spirit  origin  of  the  phenomena.  Obviously  the 
only  test  by  which  that  question  can  be  settled  is  by  the 
character  of  the  communications.  When  that  test  is  ap¬ 
plied,  it  is  found  that  all  that  is  mysterious  about  them  can 
be  explained  on  the  hypothesis  of  telepathy  or  clairvoyance. 
In  the  mean  time,  the  fact  that  the  power  that  writes  is 
always  amenable  to  control  by  suggestion,  constitutes  the 
strongest  presumptive  evidence  that  it  is  the  subjective 
mind  of  the  operator.  This  is  the  explanation  which  is 
afforded  by  a  knowledge  of  some  of  the  laws  governing 
the  action  of  the  subjective  mind.  The  onus  prohandi 
rests  with  those  who  claim  a  supernatural  origin  for  the 
phenomenon. 

TRANCE. 

Under  the  general  head  of  trance  may  be  grouped  all 
that  class  of  cases  in  which  the  objective  faculties  are, 
for  the  time  being,  held  in  practically  complete  abeyance, 
and  the  subjective  mind  becomes  correspondingly  active. 
Various  names  have  been  applied  to  this  condition,  such 
as  somnambulism,  hypnosis,  mesmeric  trance,  ecstasy,  cata¬ 
lepsy,  obsession,  etc.,  many  of  the  names  implying  a  theory 
of  causation  rather  than  distinctive  features  of  condition. 
The  condition  varies  in  accordance  with  the  idiosyncrasies 
of  the  individual  as  much  as  from  the  causes  which  induce 
it.  The  leading  characteristics  are,  however,  the  same  in 
all  cases.  These  are,  first,  the  partial  or  complete  abeyance 
of  the  objective  mind ;  second,  the  activity  of  the  subjec¬ 
tive  mind  ;  and,  third,  the  perfect  amenability  of  the  latter 


THE  PHENOMENA  OF  SPIRITISM. 


257 


to  control  by  the  power  of  suggestion.  Many  remarkable 
mental  phenomena  are  developed  in  these  states,  but  this 
discussion  will  be  confined  to  the  supposed  power  of  per¬ 
sons  in  the  condition  of  trance  to  hold  intercourse  with  the 
spiritual  world. 

1  his  power  has  been  held  to  exist  from  time  immemorial ; 
the  ancient  and  modern  mystical  literature  is  filled  with  the 
most  interesting,  not  to  say  startling,  accounts  of  interviews 
held  by  these  persons  with  the  inhabitants  of  the  spirit-land. 
Vast  systems  of  religion  have  been  founded  upon  the  sup¬ 
posed  revelations  of  persons  in  a  trance,  and  untold  mil¬ 
lions  of  the  human  race  base  their  hopes  of  a  life  in  a  future 
world  upon  the  dreams  of  ecstatics.  The  whole  vast  fabric 
of  Oriental  philosophy  and  religion  is  based  upon  the  reve¬ 
lations  of  persons  in  a  trance.  The  Swedenborgian  philos¬ 
ophy  in  the  Western  world  is  founded  upon  the  dreams  of 
a  person  who,  in  a  condition  of  a  trance,  believed  himself 
to  be  able  to  hold  familiar  converse  with  the  inhabitants  of 
heaven  and  of  hell.  Some  of  these  systems  of  spiritual 
philosophy  are  of  such  vast  and  complicated  structure  that 
the  mind  is  wrapped  in  wonder  and  admiration  of  their 
magnitude  and  perfection.  The  Oriental  philosophy,  in 
particular,  is  so  symmetrical,  so  pervaded  by  grand  and 
noble  conceptions,  so  permeated  with  lofty  precepts  of 
morality,  humanity,  and  religion,  that  we  are  wont  to  lose 
sight  of  the  fact  that  the  whole  structure  is  built  up  by  a 
process  of  deductive  reasoning  from  premises  that  have 
no  better  foundation  than  the  dreams  of  ecstatics.  Eut 
we  are  told  that  it  has  stood  the  test  of  thousands  of  years 
of  thought  and  investigation,  and  that  no  fact  in  physical 
science  can  be  adduced  to  disprove  its  fundamental  prin¬ 
ciples.  Doubtless  this  is  true.  The  adepts  have  steered 
clear  of  propositions  in  physical  science  which  could  be 
disproved  by  the  learning  of  the  schoolboy.  In  this  they 
have  avoided  those  errors  of  the  Bible  of  the  Christians, 
which,  though  unimportant  in  themselves,  having  no  bear¬ 
ing  upon  the  real  philosophy  of  the  Christian  religion,  have 
proved  a  stumbling-block  to  superficial  minds.  But  does 


17 


2S8  the  law  of  psychic  phenomena. 


it  follow  that  because  a  proposition  regarding  the  condition 
of  affairs  in  the  spirit-world  cannot  be  controverted  by  the 
science  of  the  physical  world,  the  proposition  must  neces¬ 
sarily  be  true?  Clearly  not.  Again,  does  it  follow  that 
because  a  system  of  philosophy,  the  alleged  facts  of  which 
are  necessarily  undemonstrable,  has  stood  the  test  of  thou¬ 
sands  of  years  of  investigation,  it  is  necessarily  correct? 
By  no  means.  Time  has  effected  for  the  Oriental  philoso¬ 
phy  that  which  has  not  been  effected  for  the  Western  spiritual 
philosophy,  simply  for  the  want  of  time  ;  it  has  perfected 
it  as  a  system.  The  lapse  of  time  has  enabled  the  system 
to  be  evolved  by  the  gradual  but  constant  accretions  of 
human  thought,  from  generation  to  generation,  until  it  has 
grown,  from  the  first  vague  hope  of  the  human  soul  for  a 
life  beyond  the  grave,  to  its  present  stupendous  proportions. 
The  processes  of  its  growth  can  readily  be  seen  and  under¬ 
stood  by  a  glance  at  the  evolution  of  our  own  spiritistic 
philosophy  within  the  memory  of  men  now  living.  It  is 
true  that  modern  spiritism  found  a  philosophy  ready 
made  to  its  hand  in  the  writings  of  Emanuel  Swedenborg. 
His  descriptions  of  the  spirit-world  were  in  the  main  con¬ 
firmed  by  the  earlier  mediums  who  were  acquainted  with 
his  writings.  His  was  essentially  a  material  heaven.  “  As 
on  earth,  so  in  heaven,”  was  his  highest  conception  of  the 
beauties  and  glories  of  the  land  of  “  spirits  of  just  men 
made  perfect.”  But  he  believed  in  hell,  and  he  found  one. 
He  was  inimical  to  certain  Christian  sects,  and  he  found 
that  all  who  belonged  to  those  sects  were  condemned  to 
everlasting  punishment.  When  modern  spiritism  became 
a  belief,  it  found  its  most  enthusiastic  followers  among 
those  who  were  outside  of  the  pale  of  the  Church,  those 
who  were  in  revolt  against  the  asceticism  of  the  Puritan 
belief  and  practices,  those  who  refused  to  believe  that  a 
God  of  love  and  mercy  would  condemn  any  portion  of  his 
creatures  to  everlasting  fire.  They  found  in  the  Rochester 
knockings  the  first  evidence  which  appealed  to  their  senses 
of  a  life  beyond  the  tomb ;  and  they  consulted  their  me¬ 
diums  with  perfect  confidence  in  their  ability  correctly  to 


THE  PHENOMENA  OF  SPIRITISM.  259 

portray  the  condition  of  the  denizens  of  the  land  of  spirits. 
They  learned  from  those  oracles  that  their  preconceived 
notions  of  divine  justice  were  eminently  correct,  that  there 
was  no  such  place  as  hell,  and  that  all  alike  shared  in  the 
boon  of  immortality ;  and,  by  a  series  of  progressive  steps, 
through  seven  or  eight  concentric  spheres,  all  at  last 
reached  the  highest  state  of  divine  felicity.  They  found 
that  Swedenborg  was  right  in  the  main,  but  was  a  little 
incorrect  in  his  information  concerning  hell.  It  would  be 
tedious,  as  well  as  superfluous,  to  enumerate  the  steps  by 
which  the  philosophy  of  modern  spiritism  has  advanced 
from  the  crude  notions  of  the  earlier  writers  to  its  present 
status.  Every  intelligent  reader  will  recognize  the  wide 
difference  between  the  rhapsodic  hodge-podge  of  Andrew 
Jackson  Davis  and  the  calm  philosophy  of  Judge  Edmonds, 
and  will  not  fail  to  note  how  completely  the  latter  is  now 
superseded  by  modern  writers,  who  are  gradually  engrafting 
upon  the  indigenous  stem  the  most  luxurious  branches  of 
the  Oriental  tree.  What  their  philosophy  will  be  in  coming 
years  can  be  conjectured  only  by  those  who  observe  what 
evolution  has  done  for  the  Oriental  philosophy  during  the 
thousands  of  years  of  its  existence. 

The  process  of  this  evolution  is  easy  to  understand.  The 
earlier  mediums  adopted  the  doctrines  of  Swedenborg,  with 
certain  amendments  which  seemed  to  them  to  be  more  in 
accord  with  reason  and  Divine  justice.  Those  who  followed, 
in  turn  adopted  the  main  ideas  of  their  predecessors,  with 
amendments  of  their  own.  Each  writer  in  succession 
amended  the  work  of  his  predecessors  in  those  respects  in 
which  it  seemed  to  him  to  be  imperfect,  and  each  one  had 
authority  from  the  spirit-world  which  sanctioned  the  amend¬ 
ment.  And  thus  the  system  grows  in  magnitude  and  per¬ 
fection,  and  will  continue  to  grow,  as  long  as  men  believe 
themselves  to  be  inspired  by  extramundane  intelligences. 

Now,  the  noteworthy  facts  connected  with  this  evolution¬ 
ary  process  are,  first,  that  all  believe  that  they  obtain  their 
authority  for  every  statement  of  fact  and  every  new  idea 
direct  from  the  spirits  of  the  dead  ;  and  secondly,  that  every 


26o  the  la  IV  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


man  who  evolves  a  new  idea,  or  is  possessed  of  an  old  one, 
can  easily  have  it  confirmed  by  consulting  a  spirit  me¬ 
dium,  providing  the  proper  suggestion  is  made  to  said 
medium.  And  this  is  true  of  all  classes  and  ranks  of 
mediums,  from  the  common  table-tipper  to  the  Oriental 
ecstatic.  If  the  medium  is  possessed  of  ideas  of  his  own, 
and  no  outside  suggestion  is  made,  he  will  obtain  informa¬ 
tion  from  the  spirit  world  in  exact  accordance  with  his 
ideas.  The  same  is  true  of  all  trance-seers,  by  whatever 
means  the  trance  is  brought  about.  Thus,  Cahagnet,  the 
French  mesmerist,  who  devoted  his  life  to  mesmerizing  sub¬ 
jects  for  the  sole  purpose  of  ascertaining  what  was  going  on 
in  heaven,  once  mesmerized  a  French  peasant,  and  directed 
him  to  visit  the  abode  of  the  blest.  This  he  promptly  did, 
and  reported  that  he  saw  a  great  white  throne,  surrounded  by 
a  great  throng  of  people,  all  dressed  in  the  most  gorgeous 
apparel.  On  the  throne  was  seated  a  man  who  was  much 
larger  than  any  of  the  rest,  and  who  was  further  distin¬ 
guished  by  the  superior  cut,  make,  fit,  and  material  of  his 
clothes.  The  peasant  was  sure  that  he  had  seen  the  Al¬ 
mighty,  and  so  reported.  It  is  obvious  that  he  had  simply 
seen  a  vision  representing  a  peasant’s  idea  of  heaven.  Ca¬ 
hagnet  assured  him  that  he  must  be  mistaken,  and  quoted 
Bible  authority  to  show  that  God  himself  has  said,  “  There 
shall  no  man  see  me,  and  live.”  This  was  convincing  to  the 
simple-minded  peasant,  and  Cahagnet  advised  him,  the  next 
time  he  was  entranced,  to  ascertain  if  it  was  not  a  conclave 
of  leading  spirits  that  he  saw,  who  were  assembled  for  some 
purpose  connected  with  the  internal  economy  of  heaven. 
Accordingly,  he  made  inquiries  the  next  time  he  was  en¬ 
tranced,  and  ascertained  that  Cahagnet  was  right.  It  is  clear 
that  Cahagnet  did  not  understand  the  law  of  suggestion,  or 
his  book  would  never  .have  been  written.  It  is  scarcely 
necessary  to  remark  that  his  book  obtained  a  wide  circula¬ 
tion,  was  translated  into  several  languages,  and  constituted 
a  standard  mesmeric  text-book  for  many  years. 

I  have  said  that  the  same  law  of  suggestion  governs  all 
trance-seers.  This  is  obviously  true.  If  it  is  a  law,  it  is 


THE  PHENOMENA  OF  SPIRITISM. 


261 


universal  in  its  application.  Yet  Orientalists  tell  us  that 
their  visions  are  veridical,  “  because,”  they  say,  “  they  are 
objective  visions.”  This,  of  course,  is  merely  begging  the 
question.  They  hold  that  the  visions  and  other  communi¬ 
cations  obtained  by  Western  spiritists  are  mere  “  subjective 
hallucinations.”  It  is  noteworthy  that  the  distinction  which 
they  make  between  the  two  kinds  of  visions  is  this :  those 
visions  which  accord  with  their  views  are  “  objective ;  ” 
those  which  do  not  are  “  subjective.”  It  is  a  very  easy  and 
comforting  distinction,  but  it  forcibly  reminds  one  of  the  old 
definition  of  orthodoxy  as  distinguished  from  heterodoxy ; 
“Orthodoxy  is  my  doxy,  and  heterodoxy  is  your  doxy.” 
The  Oriental  adepts  claim  that  they  have  learned  much  more 
of  the  laws  of  nature  than  is  dreamed  of  in  Occidental  phi¬ 
losophy.  Doubtless  they  have,  if  half  the  stories  we  hear 
of  them  are  true.  They  have  learned  to  produce  phenom¬ 
ena  which  far  transcend  anything  done  by  our  spirit  me¬ 
diums.  Moreover,  they  have  learned  the  true  source  of  the 
power,  and  they  do  not  ascribe  it  to  spirits  of  the  dead. 
Said  one  of  them,  in  my  hearing ;  “  I  have  often  been  asked 
the  question,  ‘  What  is  an  adept  ?  ’  An  adept  is  a  spirit 
medium  who  knows  that  the  power  to  produce  his  phe¬ 
nomena  resides  within  himself,  and  who  possesses  the  intel¬ 
ligence  and  power  to  control  and  direct  it.”  This  is  the 
exact  truth  in  a  nutshell.  But  because  the  adepts  have 
acquired  the  knowledge  of  the  laws  which  govern  the  pro¬ 
duction  of  phenomena,  and  are  able  to  apply  them,  it  does 
not  follow  that  they  are  able  to  set  any  law  of  nature  at 
defiance,  or  that  they  can  claim  exemption  from  the  opera¬ 
tion  of  a  universal  law  of  our  existence.  We  find  in  the 
Western  world  that  the  law  of  suggestion  controls  all  sub¬ 
jective  phenomena,  of  whatever  name  or  nature,  and  we 
are  slow  to  believe  that  Eastern  people  are  exempt  from 
the  operations  of  the  same  law.  If  they  are,  the  burden 
of  proof  rests  upon  them  to  demonstrate  it.  Thus  far  it 
has  not  been  demonstrated. 

The  literature  of  mysticism  of  all  ages  of  the  world  and  of 
all  nations  is  full  of  accounts  of  the  visions  of  ecstatics.  The 


262 


THE  LA  IV  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


one  noteworthy  fact  that  is  observable  in  all  is  that  each  one 
sees  and  hears  that  which  he  expects  to  see  or  hear.  The 
details  may  be  unexpected,  and  the  whole  may  transcend 
his  objective  conceptions,  but  none  controvert  their  precon¬ 
ceived  ideas.  Catholic  ecstatics  will  see  Catholic  visions, 
and  Protestants  will  see  Protestant  visions.  In  short,  what¬ 
ever  may  be  the  belief  or  the  philosophy  of  the  ecstatic, 
confirmation  of  that  belief  will  be  found  in  his  visions  of, 
or  his  communications  from,  the  other  world.  The  history 
of  the  Catholic  Church  abounds  in  accounts  of  wonderful 
visions  seen  by  nuns  and  other  religious  devotees  of  that 
faith.  One  noteworthy  fact  constantly  reappears  in  that 
connection,  which  is,  that  they  nearly  always  become  en¬ 
tranced  after  long  contemplation  of  the  image  of  the  Sa¬ 
viour  or  of  the  Virgin  Mary.  This  fact  is  interesting  from  a 
purely  scientific  standpoint.  The  physical  attitude  which 
they  assume  in  contemplation  of  the  crucifix  is  the  one 
most  conducive  to  the  induction  of  the  hypnotic  condition. 
The  significance  of  this  observation  will  be  at  once  apparent 
when  we  remember  that  Dr.  Braid  demonstrated  that  fixed 
gazing  upon  an  object  held  in  such  a  position  as  to  cause 
the  eyes  to  be  strained  upward  is  the  easiest  way  to  induce 
the  hypnotic  condition.  The  attitude,  both  physical  and 
mental,  of  prayer,  is  therefore  the  one  most  favorable  to 
the  induction  of  the  hypnotic  or  trance  condition  on  the 
one  hand,  and,  on  the  other,  to  the  production  of  the 
visions  which  accord  with  the  faith  and  expectancy  of  the 
individual. 

The  fact  that  the  physical  attitude  assumed  in  prayer  has 
a  tendency  to  induce  the  subjective  condition,  will  account 
for  many  of  the  well-recognized  effects  of  earnest  supplica¬ 
tion  of  Divine  favor.  That  calm  tranquillity  of  mind  which 
follows  the  prayer  of  faith  may  be  attributed,  in  part  at 
least,  to  the  physical  condition  resulting  from  partial  hyp¬ 
nosis.  The  objective  faculties  are  held  in  abeyance,  the 
nerves  are  tranquillized,  and  that  part  of  “  God  in  us  ”  holds 
communion  and  is  harmonized  with  its  Divine  source.  Thus 
it  is  that  long  and  earnest  prayer  for  the  restoration  of  health 


THE  PHENOMENA  OF  SPIRITISM. 


263 


is  often  followed  by  marvellous  results,  especially  when  it  is 
inspired  by  perfect  faith  in  the  promises  of  the  Master.  The 
fact  that  faith  constitutes  a  strong  suggestion  to  the  subject¬ 
ive  mind,  which  in  turn  controls  the  condition  of  the  body, 
does  not  militate  against  the  idea  of  Divine  agency  in  the 
result.  It  is  the  Divine  essence  within  us  which  produces 
the  effect,  and  it  operates  in  strict  accordance  with  Divine 
law.  It  confirms  and  explains  that  which  Christ  taught  so 
earnestly  and  so  persistently,  namely,  that  we  must  have  faith, 
or  our  prayers  will  avail  nothing.  That  he  understood  the 
principle  involved,  goes  without  saying ;  but  it  was  not  yet 
time  to  give  it  to  the  world,  for  the  world  was  not  prepared 
to  receive  it.  “  I  have  many  things  to  say  unto  you,  but  ye 
cannot  bear  them  now,”  were  his  words,  uttered  during  his 
last  interview  with  his  disciples  previous  to  his  crucifixion. 
His  was  the  “  dispensation  of  faith.”  The  promised  “  dis¬ 
pensation  of  knowledge  ”  has  not  yet  been  inaugurated 
when  it  is,  the  wisdom  which  he  taught  will  be  better  un¬ 
derstood,  for  it  will  then  be  known  that  the  doctrines  which 
he  enunciated  regarding  his  power  over  disease,  and  the 
conditions  of  immortality,  were  but  statements  in  strict 
accordance  with  scientific  facts. 

OBSESSION. 

Webster  defines  “  obsession  ”  as  “  the  state  of  a  person 
vexed  or  besieged  by  an  evil  spirit,  antecedent  to  posses¬ 
sion.”  The  latter  term  he  defines  as  “  the  state  of  being 
possessed,  as  by  an  evil  spirit,”  etc.  Allan  Kardec  employs 
obsession  as  a  generic  term,  to  include  simple  obsession, 
which  accords  with  Webster’s  definition  of  the  term ;  fasci¬ 
nation,  which  is  “  an  illusion  produced  by  direct  action  on 
the  medium’s  thought,”  paralyzing  his  judgment ;  and  sub¬ 
jugation,  which  completely  paralyzes  the  will,  and  causes 
the  medium  to  act  in  spite  of  himself.  For  our  purpose 
these  fine  distinctions  are  immaterial,  as  they  merely  repre¬ 
sent  different  stages  or  degrees  of  intensity  of  the  same 
phenomenon.  The  theory  of  obsession  is  a  modernizing  of 
the  old  idea  of  being  possessed  of  a  devil,  or  devils,  as  the 


264  the  law  of  psychic  phenomena. 

case  might  be.  It  consists  in  being  dominated,  to  a  greater 
or  less  extent,  by  the  idea  that  the  person  is  besieged  or 
controlled  by  a  foreign  spirit,  good  or  bad,  angel  or  devil. 
It  seems  superfluous  to  remark  that  the  same  principles 
prevail  in  these  cases  as  in  all  others  where  the  idea  of 
spirits  has  been  suggested  to  the  subjective  mind.  It  mat¬ 
ters  not  how  the  suggestion  originated,  the  result  is  the 
same.  In  ancient  times  the  idea  prevailed  that  aity  one 
was  liable  at  any  time  to  be  taken  possession  of  by  a  devil. 
When  that  idea  was  in  vogue  it  frequently  happened  that 
persons  who  easily  entered  the  subjective  condition  found 
themselves  possessed  of  one  or  more  devils.  In  those  times 
the  profession  of  exorcist  was  very  profitable.  The  priest¬ 
hood  generally  monopolized  the  business,  for  the  obvious 
reason  that  they  were  supposed  to  entertain  a  spirit  of  more 
or  less  antagonism  to  devils  generally.  Besides,  devils  were 
supposed  to  have  a  mortal  fear  of  anything  holy ;  they  had 
an  especial  dread  of  the  sight  of  a  copy  of  the  Scriptures, 
and  of  hearing  the  name  of  God  pronounced.  Accordingly 
it  came  to  pass  that,  upon  the  command  of  the  exorcist,"  the 
devil  would  often  incontinently  fly,  leaving  the  patient  in  his 
normal  condition.  Sometimes,  however,  he  would  be  more 
stubborn,  and  the  patient  would  go  into  convulsions  upon 
hearing  the  magic  words  pronounced  ;  and  then  more  severe 
measures  would  have  to  be  adopted,  such  as  employing 
more  exorcists.  But  persistence  was  generally  rewarded 
with  success. 

In  later  years  devils  have  generally  gone  out  of  fashion, 
and  their  place  is  taken  by  bad  spirits  of  dead  men.  And 
so  it  has  come  to  pass  that  many  spirit  mediums  are  sorely 
afflicted  with  spirits,  who  pester  them  most  outrageously. 
The  exorcist  is  now  replaced  by  the  family  doctor,  who 
is  generally  scientific  to  the  last  degree,  and  accordingly 
endeavors  to  get  rid  of  the  spirit  by  means  of  physic  or 
clysters.  Recently,  however,  such  cases  have  been  treated 
successfully  by  means  of  hypnotism,  which  is  the  obvious 
remedy,  in  case  the  hypnotist  realizes  the  power  of 
suggestion. 


THE  PHENOMENA  OF  SPIRITISM. 


265 


It  is  obvious  to  those  who  have  followed  our  argument 
thus  far  that  the  subjective  mind  of  the  person  obsessed  is 
dominated  by  the  suggestion  that  it  is  a  bad  spirit  or  a 
devil,  as  the  case  may  be ;  and  that,  acting  upon  that  sug¬ 
gestion,  it  will  personate  the  spirit  or  devil  with  the  same 
extraordinary  acumen  that  it  would  personate  any  other 
character  suggested.  And  it  will  assume  to  be  one,  two,  or 
seven  devils  or  spirits,  in  accordance  with  the  suggestion, 
and  will  exhibit  as  many  different  kinds  and  degrees  of 
deviltry  as  there  are  devils  embraced  in  the  suggestion. 

Such  cases  are  frequently  characterized  by  the  develop¬ 
ment  of  wonderful  telepathic  power ;  and  this  of  course  adds 
to  the  mystery  and  confirms  his  friends  in  the  idea  that 
the  patient  is  controlled  by  an  extramundane  agency.  But, 
while  it  adds  to  the  mystery,  it  does  not  militate  against 
the  soundness  of  the  explanation  afforded  by  the  laws  of 
duality  and  suggestion.  The  ceremony  of  exorcism  by  the 
priests  in  ancient  times  constituted  a  most  powerful  sugges¬ 
tive  command,  which  could  not,  and  did  not,  fail  in  having 
the  desired  effect.  There  was  an  interval,  however,  between 
the  days  of  priestly  exorcism  and  the  days  of  modern  hyp¬ 
notism,  during  which  scepticism  prevailed  regarding  the 
power  of  any  one  to  exorcise  an  offending  spirit,  or  to  cure 
the  patient  by  other  than  material  remedies.  Patients  were 
then  sent  to  insane  asylums,  only  to  increase  their  maladies. 
But  in  later  years  the  power  of  hypnotic  suggestion  has 
become  a  recognized  principle  in  therapeutics,  and  little 
trouble  is  experienced  in  curing  obsessed  patients  where 
the  brain  has  not  become  diseased.  The  fact  that  the 
trouble  is  susceptible  of  cure  by  hypnotic  suggestion  points 
clearly  to  its  mental  origin,  and  precludes  the  possibility  of 
its  being  attributable  to  supermundane  causes. 

DUAL  PERSONALITY. 

Cognate  in  some  of  its  essential  characteristics  to  the 
phenomenon  of  obsession  is  that  of  dual  personality  ;  and 
although  it  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  question  of  spiritism, 
it  may  as  well  be  noted  here  as  elsewhere.  By  this  term  is 


266  THE  LA  IV  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 

not  meant  the  duality  of  mental  organization  which  pertains 
to  every  human  being,  but  it  refers  to  a  specific  phenome¬ 
non  which  has  received  that  name  from  recent  scientific 
observers.  It  is  characterized  by  a  complete  loss  of  knowl¬ 
edge  of  personal  identity.  The  patient  assumes  a  new 
name,  a  new  personality,  and  a  new  character,  the  last 
being  often  in  marked  contrast  to  the  normal  one  in  every 
essential  particular.  The  old  personality  is  sometimes  com¬ 
pletely  forgotten,  and  sometimes  it  is  remembered  only  as 
a  person  whom  the  patient  has  once  known.  In  some  in¬ 
stances  the  two  personalities  alternate  at  somewhat  irregular 
intervals.  In  others,  the  phenomenon  occurs  only  once  in  a 
lifetime.  In  others,  several  different  personalities  will  be 
assumed  at  different  times.  In  all  these  cases  certain  char¬ 
acteristics  constantly  reappear,  the  most  notable  appearing 
in  the  fact  that  the  new  personality  is  always  consistent  with 
itself ;  that  is,  it  is  always  the  same,  whenever  it  reappears. 
Its  moral  characteristics  are  sometimes  in  marked  contrast  to 
the  lifelong  character  developed  in  the  normal  state,  but  it 
never  varies  from  one  time  to  another.  If  a  dozen  different 
personalities  should  be  assumed  at  different  times,  each 
would  always  be  consistent  with  itself.  The  incidents  oc¬ 
curring  during  the  continuance  of  one  interval  of  the  abnor¬ 
mal  personality  will  always  be  remembered  whenever  the 
same  personality  reappears,  so  that  the  existence  of  the 
new  personality,  when  it  reappears  with  frequency,  is  prac¬ 
tically  continuous ;  that  is,  the  intervals  of  normal  con¬ 
sciousness  do  not  seem  to  be  remembered.  The  normal 
personality,  however,  never  remembers  aught  of  what  oc¬ 
curred  during  the  abnormal  interval.  As  before  remarked, 
the  abnormal  personality  sometimes  remembers  the  exist¬ 
ence  of  the  normal  one,  but  always  as  that  of  a  third  per¬ 
son,  upon  whom  it  often  looks,  and  of  whom  it  sometimes 
speaks,  with  pitying  contempt.  It  generally  happens,  in 
case  two  or  more  abnormal  personalities  are  assumed,  that 
each  remembers  all  the  other  abnormal  characters,  but 
regards  them  as  third  persons  having  no  connection  what¬ 
ever  with  itself. 


THE  PHENOMENA  OF  SPIRITISM.  267 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  cases  which  have  been  re¬ 
ported  in  the  United  States  was  that  of  one  Ansel  Bourne, 
a  Baptist  clergyman,  who  suddenly  disappeared  from  his 
home  in  Rhode  Island  a  few  years  ago.  Every  effort  was 
made  to  find  him,  but  without  avail.  At  the  end  of  two 
months  he  returned  to  his  home,  after  an  experience  of 
the  strangest  character.  It  appears,  from  an  investigation 
conducted  in  the  most  careful  and  painstaking  manner, 
in  behalf  of  the  London  Society  for  Psychical  Research, 
that  Mr.  Bourne  lost  normal  consciousness  soon  after  leav¬ 
ing  home,  and  wandered  around  in  several  different  towns 
and  cities,  finally  reaching  Norristown,  Pa.,  where  he  rented 
a  store,  stocked  it  with  small  wares,  and  carried  it  on  suc¬ 
cessfully  for  a  period  of  six  weeks,  under  the  name  of 
A.  J.  Brown.  He  appeared  to  the  citizens  of  Norristown 
as  a  normal  person,  conducting  his  business  properly,  con¬ 
tracting  no  unnecessary  debts,  and  always  paying  promptly. 
At  the  end  of  six  weeks  of  a  mercantile  career  he  sud¬ 
denly  regained  his  normal  consciousness,  and  remembered 
nothing  whatever  of  his  abnormal  experience.  The  article 
in  the  Proceedings  of  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research, 
written  by  Richard  Hodgson,  LL.D.,  exhibits  exhaustive 
research  in  the  investigation  of  this  case,  and  its  entire 
verity  cannot  be  doubted.  It  appears  that  Mr.  Bourne 
had  once,  in  early  life,  had  a  remarkable  experience,  which 
shows  a  tendency  to  abnormal  psychic  conditions ;  but 
nothing  was  developed  which  throws  any  light  upon  any 
specific  cause  for  the  particular  phase  of  his  later  expe¬ 
rience.  He  had  never  before  engaged  in  trade,  nor  had  he 
had  any  taste  for  such  a  life,  and  nothing  could  be  remem¬ 
bered  which  could  explain  why  it  was  that  he  assumed  the 
name  of  A.  J.  Brown.  It  is  stated,  however,  that  he  had 
once  been  hypnotized,  when  young,  and  made  to  per¬ 
form  many  amusing  antics  on  the  stage  ;  but  no  recollec¬ 
tion  was  had  that  the  name  of  A.  J.  Brown  had  been 
suggested  to  him  at  the  time.  It  is  extremely  probable, 
however,  that  that  name  was  suggested  to  him  at  that  time, 
and  that  his  subjective  mind  retained  the  memory  of  the 


268  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


name,  and  that  the  impression  lasted  all  those  years,  only 
to  reappear  when  he  again  went  into  a  hypnotic  trance. 
This  is  only  a  conjecture,  however ;  but  it  has  been  shown 
in  a  previous  chapter  how  the  subjective  mind  of  a  young 
lady  retained  the  impression  of  its  identity  with  a  certain 
fictitious  character,  which  she  had  once  assumed  in  a  play, 
and  with  which  it  again  identified  itself  in  obedience  to  her 
suggestion,  made  when  she  was  in  the  normal  condition. 

Again,  it  is  a  common  stage  experiment  in  hypnotism  to 
suggest  some  name  to  the  subject,  and  some  character  in 
which  he  is  made  to  act,  that  of  a  merchant  being  not 
uncommon.  When  we  remember  how  lasting  are  such 
impressions  upon  the  subjective  mind,  and  how  prone  they 
are  to  reappear  at  any  subsequent  time  when  the  same 
conditions  exist,  we  are  prepared  to  believe  that  such  a 
suggestion,  made  in  early  life,  would  be  an  ample  explana¬ 
tion  of  the  subsequent  event.  The  fact  that  the  sug¬ 
gestion,  whatever  it  was  and  by  whomsoever  it  was  made, 
was  made  while  the  subject  was  in  the  hypnotic  condi¬ 
tion,  and  could  not,  therefore,  be  remembered  objectively, 
explains  why  it  is  that  in  few,  if  any,  of  such  cases  can 
any  clew  be  obtained  as  to  the  origin  of  the  suggestion,  or 
any  reason  assigned  for  the  assumption  of  any  particular 
personality. 

The  dual  character  of  the  persons  thus  afflicted  con¬ 
stitutes  the  most  indubitable  evidence  of  the  duality  of 
man’s  mental  organism,  and  it  is  beginning  to  be  so  recog¬ 
nized  by  European  scientific  observers.  Some  of  them 
say,  however,  “  If  this  is  evidence  of  duality  of  mind,  what 
shall  we  say  of  those  who  exhibit  a  triple  personality  ?  Is 
that  an  evidence  of  a  trinity  of  mind?”  The  question 
is  pertinent,  and  is  easily  answered.  It  is  obvious  that 
the  persons  exhibiting  the  phenomenon  are  in  a  hypnotic 
trance,  and  are,  therefore,  governed  by  the  laws  pertaining 
to  hypnotism.  They  have  an  objective  mind,  which  is  the 
controlling  power  in  the  normal  condition.  In  the  hypnotic 
state  the  normal,  or  objective,  faculties  are  in  abeyance,  and 
the  person  is  amenable  to  control  by  the  power  of  sugges- 


THE  PHENOMENA  OE  SPIRITISM.  269 

tion.  Whatever  name  or  character  is  then  suggested  is  at 
once  assumed  by  the  subject.  The  suggestion  may  be  oral, 
and  proceed  from  another ;  or  it  may  be  an  auto-sugges¬ 
tion,  arising  from  something  suggested  in  a  previous  hyp- 
notization,  or  from  some  forgotten  circumstance.  Be  that 
as  it  may,  the  suggested  character  is  assumed  and  carried 
out  with  all  the  deductive  logical  exactitude  characteristic 
of  subjective  reasoning.  This  is  a  well-known  result  of  a 
common  hypnotic  experiment.  It  is  also  well  known  that 
the  subject  can  be  made  to  assume  any  number  of  charac¬ 
ters  by  the  same  process.  It  is  a  common  stage  experi¬ 
ment  to  cause  a  versatile  subject,  who  is  easily  controlled, 
to  assume  a  dozen  different  characters  in  the  course  of  an 
evening’s  performance.  It  is  obvious,  therefore,  that  per¬ 
sons  who  are  afflicted  with  a  second  personality,  which  occa¬ 
sionally  takes  possession  of  them,  are  also  liable  to  assume 
a  third,  or,  indeed,  any  number  of  names  and  characters,  if 
anything  happens  to  suggest  them.  In  fact,  the  power  of 
suggestion  over  the  subjective  mind,  in  the  line  of  multipli¬ 
cation  of  characters,  is  practically  unlimited.  It  is  not  a 
multiplication  of  personalities,  however,  nor  an  evidence  of 
a  triple  or  a  quadruple  personality,  but  merely  an  exhibi¬ 
tion  of  the  power  of  the  second,  or  subjective,  personality 
of  man  to  assume,  in  obedience  to  the  law  of  suggestion, 
any  number  of  real  or  imaginary  characters.  The  same 
power  is  exhibited  by  the  subjective  personality  of  a 
spirit  medium  when  it  assumes  the  names  and  characters 
of  any  number  of  spirits  of  the  dead,  whose  names  are 
suggested. 

The  specific  character  of  the  mental  operations  of  per¬ 
sons  in  whom  the  second  personality  is  abnormally  devel¬ 
oped  has  not  been  recorded,  so  far  as  we  are  aware.  It 
will  be  found,  however,  when  observations  are  made  in  that 
direction,  that  they  have  practically  no  capacity  for  reason¬ 
ing  by  the  inductive  process  when  under  the  control  of  the 
second  personality.  This  will  certainly  be  the  case  if  the 
hypnosis  is  perfect.  Otherwise  it  might  be  modified  by 
the  synchronous  action  of  the  objective  mind.  It  is  hoped 


THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


that  future  observers  will  direct  their  attention  to  this  ques¬ 
tion,  to  the  end  that  a  series  of  facts  may  be  collated  which 
shall  assist  in  determining  the  direction  and  extent,  as  well 
as  the  exact  limitations,  of  subjective  mental  power.  When 
that  is  accomplished,  the  first  great  step  will  have  been 
taken  in  bringing  psychology  within  the  domain  of  the 
exact  sciences. 


CHAPTER  XIX, 


THE  PHYSICAL  PHENOMENA  OF  SPIRITISM. 


The  Intelligence  manifested. — It  is  a  Human  Intelligence.  —  Inhe¬ 
rent  Probabilities. — Conditions  requisite.  —  The  Best  Conditions. 
—  A  Living  Organism  necessary  —  The  Laws  of  Telepathy  and 
Suggestion  prevail.  —  Slate- Writing.  —  A  Wonderful  Slate-Writ- 
ing  Seance.  —  Telepathic  and  Psycho-Physical  Power  displayed  in 
Perfection,  —  Demonstration  of  its  Mundane  Origin.  —  An  Un¬ 
expected  Phenomenon.  —  Summary  of  Results.  —  Syllogism.  — 
General  Conclusions.  —  Spiritistic  Phenomena  do  not  constitute 
Valid  Evidence  of  a  Life  beyond  the  Grave. —  An  Argument  lor 
Immortality. 


HE  physical  phenomena  of  spiritism  are  in  more  senses 


*  than  one  the  most  interesting  of  all  the  manifestations 
of  subjective  power.  They  require,  however,  but  a  brief 
treatment  at  our  hands,  for  the  reason  that  the  primary 
object  of  this  book  is  to  deal  with  the  mental  powers  and 
attributes  of  mankind  in  their  relations  to  psychic  phe¬ 
nomena.  No  attempt,  therefore,  will  be  made  to  prove 
that  the  alleged  physical  phenomena  of  so-called  spiritism 
are  veridical  or  otherwise.  It  would  be  a  work  of  super¬ 
erogation  to  attempt  to  add  force  or  volume  to  the  already 
overwhelming  arr.ay  of  testimony  going  to  show  the  wonder¬ 
ful  physical  power  often  displayed  in  connection  with  psychic 
phenomena.  For  our  purposes  it  is  not  a  matter  of  vital 
importance  whether  things  can  be  made  to  levitate  without 
physical  contact  or  not.  It  will  be  assumed,  therefore, 
that  all  statements  made  by  respectable  witnesses  in  regard 
to  the  occurrence  of  physical  phenomena  are  true.  We  do 


272  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 

this  partly  because  we  believe  them  to  be  true,  having  seen 
enough  to  knoiv  the  reality  of  the  leading  physical  phe¬ 
nomena,  and  partly  because  our  purpose  is  to  deal  with 
the  mental  aspects  of  psychic  phenomena,  and  the  laws 
which  pertain  to  their  development.  We  shall  leave  to 
those  who  are  sceptical,  or  who  think  they  are  sceptical 
rather  than  ignorant,  the  task  of  investigating,  after  the 
ponderous  and  elaborate  methods  of  the  scientists,  phe¬ 
nomena  which  can  be  verified  beyond  the  possible  shadow 
of  a  doubt,  by  the  exercise  of  a  little  common-sense.  And 
we  will  here  undertake  to  guarantee  that  if  any  scientific 
gentleman  will,  in  good  faith,  follow  the  suggestions  offered 
in  former  chapters  of  this  book  regarding  the  proper 
method  of  dealing  with  so-called  mediums,  and  will  divest 
himself,  for  the  time  being,  of  all  fear  of  professional 
mediums  and  all  prejudice  against  them,  he  will  not  only 
see  enough  to  convince  him  of  the  truth  of  all  that  is 
alleged  regarding  physical  phenomena,  but  he  will  also  see 
that  the  elaborate  test  conditions  often  insisted  upon  by 
scientific  investigators  are  superfluous,  not  to  say  absurd. 
These  remarks  are,  of  course,  applicable  to  the  better  class 
of  mediums,  that  is,  those  who  are  recognized  by  the  great 
body  of  spiritists  as  possessing  a  high  order  of  mediumistic 
power.  Their  moral  characteristics  need  not  count  as  a 
factor,  for  it  is  to  the  interest  of  a  medium  to  produce 
genuine  phenomena  when  he  can,  and  he  will  always  do  so 
if  the  conditions  are  favorable.  Mediums  are  always  anx¬ 
ious  to  exhibit  their  phenomena,  when  genuine,  under  test 
conditions,  and  will  do  so  in  a  way  that  shall  satisfy  the 
most  sceptical.  A  further  qualification  of  the  foregoing 
remarks  should  be  made  in  regard  to  materializing  me¬ 
diums.  The  writer  has  never  seen  anything  genuine  in 
the  line  of  materializations.  There  is  here  more  room  for 
fraud,  and  more  fraud  is  perpetrated  by  materializing  me¬ 
diums  than  by  any  other,  because  materialization  is  a  rare 
and  difficult  phase  of  mediumship.  Yet  there  is  every 
reason  to  believe,  and  we  shall  undertake  to  show  further 
on,  that  the  production  of  genuine  apparitions,  resembling 


THE  PHYSICAL  PHENOMENA  OF  SPIRITISM.  273 


the  persons  they  profess  to  represent,  is  a  possibility  within 
the  range  of  psychic  power. 

The  remarks  which  follow  will  therefore  be  addressed, 
not  to  those  who  are  not  yet  convinced  of  the  reality  of 
physical  phenomena,  but  to  those  who  are  aware  of  their 
reality,  but  attribute  them  to  extramundane  causes. 

There  is  one  pregnant  fact  connected  with  these  mani¬ 
festations  which  all  will  admit,  and  that  is  that  there  is  an 
intelligence  which  directs  and  controls  them.  This  intelli¬ 
gence  is  that  of  disembodied  spirits,  or  it  is  not.  If  it  is 
not,  it  must  be  that  of  embodied  spirits.  These  proposi¬ 
tions,  if  not  self-evident,  will  at  least  be  admitted  to  be  tme 
by  those  who  believe  that  it  proceeds  from  disembodied 
spirits  of  human  beings.  The  intelligence  is  a  human  in¬ 
telligence,  —  that  is,  it  is  characterized  by  human  imperfec¬ 
tions  and  limitations  ;  and,  as  all  human  beings  must  be 
classified  as  either  living  or  dead,  we  must  look  to  one 
class  or  the  other  for  the  source  of  the  phenomena. 

The  first  question  in  order  is.  What  are  the  inherent  pro¬ 
babilities?  Conceding  the  power  to  exist,  it  would  seem  to 
be  more  inherently  probable  that  it  is  possessed  by  a  soul 
connected  with  a  living  organism,  than  it  is  that  it  is  pos¬ 
sessed  by  a  soul  that  has  been  entirely  severed  from  all 
connection  with  the  material  world.  Spiritists  themselves 
unwittingly  concede  the  truth  of  this  proposition  when  they 
assert,  as  does  Allan  Kardec,  on  the  authority,  as  he  says,  of 
“  the  spirit  of  Saint  Louis,”  that  “  the  spirits  who  produce 
these  effects  are  always  inferior  spirits,  who  are  not  entirely 
disengaged  from  material  influence.”  *  Besides,  the  very 
fact  that  the  intervention  of  a  “  medium  ”  is  necessary  for 
the  production  of  physical  phenomena  demonstrates  the 
proposition  that  the  elements  of  physical  organism  are  es¬ 
sential.  It  requires,  therefore,  two  things  to  produce  the 
phenomena ;  namely,  a  soul  and  a  body.  In  a  living  man 
the  two  are  united  and  working  in  harmony.  Is  it  not 
probable  that  such  an  organism  is  capable  of  producing  all 
the  effects  attributed  to  the  temporary  union  of  a  dead 
1  Book  on  Mediums,  p.  87. 

18 


274  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


man’s  soul  and  a  living  man’s  body?  If  not,  why  not? 
Why  should  a  dead  man’s  spirit  in  abnormal  union  with  a 
living  man’s  body  possess  more  power  than  a  living  man’s 
spirit  in  normal  union  with  his  own  body?  Is  it  because 
the  former  possesses  more  knowledge  than  the  latter?  No, 
for  we  have  seen  that  it  is  only  “  inferior  spirits  ”  who  are 
capable  of  producing  physical  manifestations.  Superior 
knowledge  confers  no  advantage  ;  for,  as  Kardec  informs  us, 
the  superior  spirits  have  no  power  in  that  direction.  We 
have,  therefore,  the  authority  of  the  spiritists  themselves 
for  formulating  the  proposition  that  the  more  completely 
the  spirit  of  a  man  is  “  disengaged  from  material  influence,” 
the  less  power  he  possesses  to  produce  physical  phenomena. 
This  being  true,  it  follows  that  the  converse  of  the  propo¬ 
sition  is  true,  namely,  that  the  more  completely  the  spirit 
of  a  man  is  united  to  material  elements,  the  greater  is  his 
power  to  produce  such  phenomena.  The  conclusion  is 
irresistible  that  the  spirit  of  a  man  in  normal  union  with 
his  own  body  possesses  the  power  in  perfection. 

If,  therefore,  we  can  find  in  abstract  reasoning  no  war¬ 
rant  for  the  assumption  that  the  phenomena  are  produced 
by  disembodied  spirits,  we  must  look  elsewhere  for  evidence 
of  their  extramundane  origin.  The  first  inquiry  naturally 
suggesting  itself  is.  What  internal  evidence  is  contained  in 
the  character  of  the  manifestations  which  would  enable  one 
to  form  a  correct  judgment  regarding  their  probable  source? 
We  have  already  seen  that  reasoning  from  their  physical 
character  leads  us  to  the  conclusion  that  the  physical  power 
displayed  must  have  a  physical  basis,  and  that  that  basis  is 
probably  the  physical  organism  of  the  medium.  Now,  if 
its  intellectual  character  leads  us  in  the  same  direction,  the 
evidence  is  still  stronger  in  favor  of  its  purely  human  origin. 
We  presume  that  no  one  will  dispute  the  proposition  that 
the  communications  received  through  the  physical  phe¬ 
nomena  are  governed  by  the  same  laws  as  those  received 
by  means  of  the  other  methods  which  have  been  discussed. 
Indeed,  the  fact  is  almost  self-evident.  They  have  the 
4ame  origin,  and  must  be  governed  by  the  same  laws.  The 


THE  PHYSICAL  PHENOMENA  OF  SPIRITISM.  275 


remarks,  therefore,  which  have  been  made  concerning  the 
character  of  the  communications  obtained  by  other  than 
physical  means  apply  with  full  force  to  those  obtained 
through  physical  demonstrations.  The  laws  of  telepathy 
and  suggestion  play  their  subtle  rdle  in  the  one  case  the 
same  as  in  the  other.  If  possible,  there  is  less  evidence 
of  extramundane  origin  in  the  physical  manifestations  than 
there  is  in  the  intellectual.  Indeed,  this  might  be  pre-sup- 
posed,  from  the  gross  character  of  the  former,  even  though 
the  latter  had  a  purely  spiritual  source.  If,  therefore,  we 
find  no  valid  evidence  of  extramundane  origin  in  the 
higher  manifestations,  it  is  a  waste  of  time  to  seek  for  evi¬ 
dence  of  spirit  intercourse  in  the  tipping  of  kitchen  tables, 
the  levitation  of  parlor  sofas,  or  the  convulsions  of  whole 
sets  of  chamber  furniture. 

The  foregoing  remarks  apply  to  all  forms  and  grades  of 
physical  phenomena,  of  which  there  are  many.  Some  of 
them  possess  the  most  intense  interest,  not  only  on  account 
of  the  wonderful  psycho-physical  power  displayed,  but  because 
of  their  intellectual  phases.  Slate-writing,  for  instance, 
when  performed  by  a  first-class  medium,  gifted  with  a  hign 
order  of  telepathic  power,  accompanied  by  other  necessary 
intellectual  qualifications,  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  of 
all  phases  of  psychic  power.  An  instance  which  occurred 
within  the  writer’s  own  experience  will  be  here  related,  for 
the  reason  that  it  fully  illustrates  the  essential  qualifications 
and  characteristics  of  a  first-class  medium,  shows  both  the 
physical  and  mental  powers  with  which  he  is  endowed,  and 
clearly  defines  the  limitations  which  hedge  him  about,  and 
which  point,  with  unerring  exactitude,  to  the  source  of  the 
phenomena. 

A  few  years  ago,  a  conversation  which  the  writer  had 
with  a  celebrated  Union  general  led  to  an  agreement  to  visit 
a  prominent  slate-writing  medium,  then  sojourning  in 
the  city  of  Washington.  Among  other  things,  it  was 
agreed  that  the  general  should  be  the  sitter,  and  that  he 
should  be  guided  entirely  by  my  suggestions  relative  to  the 
course  which  he  should  pursue  before  and  during  the  stance. 


276  THE  LA  W  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


My  object,  which  he  fully  understood  and  appreciated, 
was,  first,  to  convince  him  of  the  genuineness  of  the  physi¬ 
cal  phenomena,  —  that  is,  that  the  slate-writing  was  per¬ 
formed  without  corporeal  contact  of  the  medium  with  the 
pencil,  and  without  the  shadow  of  a  possibility  of  the  em¬ 
ployment  of  legerdemain  ;  and,  secondly,  to  demonstrate 
the  utter  impossibility  of  the  phenomena  being  attributable 
to  disembodied  spirits. 

It  must  be  premised  that  the  medium  was  in  the  habit 
of  causing  his  sitters  to  write  six  short  letters  to  as  many 
different  spirits.  These  epistles  are  written  on  separate 
pieces  of  paper  about  three  inches  square,  and  are  addressed 
to  the  spirits  by  name  and  signed  by  the  writer,  precisely 
as  an  ordinary  letter  would  be  addressed  and  signed.  Each 
letter  is  then  rolled  into  a  wad  as  small  as  possible,  and 
retained  in  the  hand  of  the  sitter  until  he  is  requested  to 
deposit  them  in  a  pile  on  the  table.  When  this  is  done,  the 
medium  reaches  his  hand  across  the  table  and  touches  the 
wads  with  the  tips  of  his  fingers,  the  sitter  meanwhile  watch¬ 
ing  the  proceeding  closely,  to  prevent  the  possibility  of 
fraud.  After  the  medium  has  touched  each  bit  of  paper 
the  sitter  resumes  possession  of  them  and  retains  them  for 
future  reference.  It  may  be  here  remarked  that  a  sitter 
has  the  privilege  of  bringing  his  own  slates  with  him,  and 
retaining  possession  of  them  until  the  writing  is  finished. 
They  need  not  leave  his  custody  for  an  instant.  He  may 
place  the  bit  of  pencil  between  them  himself,  and  then 
securely  lock  or  tie  them  together,  and  hold  them  as  tightly 
as  he  chooses  on  the  top  of  the  table,  in  the  broad  light  of 
day,  while  the  writing  is  going  on. 

The  plan  suggested  to  the  general  on  this  occasion,  and 
which  he  carried  out  to  the  letter,  was  as  follows  ;  — 

I.  To  write  three  letters  to  as  many  spirits  of  his  dead 
acquaintances,  each  one  couched  in  general  terms,  —  such 
as,  “  Dear  B.,  can  you  communicate  with  me  to-day?  If 
so,  tell  me  your  condition  in  the  spirit-land.”  This  could 
be  answered  by  very  general  remarks,  and  would  require  no 
specific  answer  involving  any  knowledge  of  the  sitter’s 
affairs  or  anything  else. 


THE  PHYSICAL  PHENOMENA  OF  SPIRITISM.  277 

2.  To  write  two  similar  letters  to  two  persons  known  to 
the  sitter,  but  unknown  to  the  medium,  to  be  still  living  in 
the  flesh. 

3.  To  write  one  letter  to  a  deceased  person,  asking  a 
specific  question,  the  correct  answer  to  which  neither  the 
sitter  nor  the  medium  could  possibly  know. 

4.  To  place  the  medium  at  his  ease,  by  leading  him  to 
believe  that  he  had  to  deal  with  a  sympathetic  believer  in 
the  doctrine  of  spiritism,  who  had  perfect  faith  in  the 
medium’s  powers. 

5.  To  prescribe  no  test  conditions  whatever,  but  let  the 
medium  have  his  own  way  in  everything. 

6.  Under  no  circumstances  to  let  the  medium  know 
the  name  or  antecedents  of  the  sitter. 

These  suggestions  were  carried  out  to  the  letter.  The 
general  was  unknown  to  the  medium,  and  was  introduced 
by  the  writer  under  a  fictitious  name.  The  medium  occu¬ 
pied  a  suite  of  rooms  consisting  of  a  large  double  parlor 
separated  by  folding-doors.  The  front  parlor  was  used  as 
a  reception-room,  and  the  back  parlor  as  a  s6ance-room. 
The  latter  was  lighted  by  one  large  window,  in  front  of 
which  stood  an  old-fashioned  square  dining-table.  The 
medium  seated  himself  on  one  side  of  this  table,  and  the 
sitter  occupied  a  chair  on  the  opposite  side.  Several  slates 
were  lying  on  the  table,  two  of  which  the  medium  washed 
clean  and  then  gave  them  into  the  custody  of  the  sitter, 
who  carefully  examined  them,  and  kept  them  in  his  posses¬ 
sion  until  the  seance  was  over,  resting  his  arms  upon  them 
while  he  wrote  the  prescribed  letters.  He  was  particularly 
cautious  about  writing  the  letters,  carefully  guarding  them 
so  that  it  was  impossible  for  the  medium  to  see  the  writing 
with  his  natural  eyes,  and  never  lifted  his  elbows  from  the 
two  slates  in  his  custody.  When  the  letters  were  all  finished 
and  rolled  into  wads,  they  were  placed  upon  the  table 
directly  between  the  medium  and  the  sitter,  the  latter  never 
allowing  his  eyes  to  wander  from  them  for  an  instant.  The 
medium  then  touched  each  wad  with  his  finger-tips,  when 
they  were  again  taken  possession  of  by  the  sitter. 


2yS  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


It  should  be  stated  that  the  seance,  thus  far,  was  not 
witnessed  by  myself ;  but  the  circumstances  were  afterwards 
detailed  by  the  general,  whose  perfect  trustworthiness  is 
beyond  question.  At  this  juncture  —  that  is,  while  the  wads 
were  still  lying  on  the  table  —  a  most  remarkable  incident 
happened.  The  medium  suddenly  arose,  opened  the  folding- 
doors,  and  invited  me  in  to  take  part  in  the  seance.  After 
resuming  his  seat,  he  remarked  to  me  :  “  There  is  a  spirit 
here  who  refuses  to  communicate  until  you  are  allowed  to 

be  present.  He  says  his  name  is  G -  (mentioning  a 

common  Christian  name).  Have  you  any  deceased  friend 
by  that  name?  ”  I  answered.  No,  not  remembering,  for  the 
moment,  any  one  bearing  that  name.  The  medium  then 
handed  me  a  pencil,  and  said  :  “  Touch  one  of  those  wads 
with  the  pencil ;  then  open  it,  and  you  will  find  that  it  is  a 
letter  addressed  to  G - 

I  touched  one  of  the  six  wads,  at  random  of  course,  and 
upon  opening  it  found,  to  my  surprise,  that  it  was  a  letter 

addressed  by  the  sitter  to  his  deceased  brother  G - .  The 

brother  was  also  a  very  dear  friend  of  mine ;  but  his  exalted 
position  in  life  precluded  me  from  ever  addressing  him  by 
his  Christian  name,  and  I  had  not  been  consciously  think¬ 
ing  of  him  during  the  seance.  Then  the  medium  again 
addressed  me,  as  follows  :  — 

“  Fold  the  letter  again,  place  it  with  the  others,  and  mix 
them  all  together.  Then  take  the  pencil  and  touch  another 
wad ;  and  the  one  you  touch  you  will  find  to  be  a  letter 
addressed  to  M - .” 

This  was  done,  and  the  wad  touched  proved  to  be  a  letter 
addressed  to  the  party  named  by  the  medium.  A  third 
time  this  feat  was  performed  with  the  same  result.  To  say 
that  we  were  surprised  is  but  feebly  to  express  our  emotions. 
The  first  success  might  be  attributable  to  coincidence,  sup¬ 
posing  the  medium  to  be  in  possession  of  the  name.  The 
chances  were  one  to  six,  and  it  is  within  easy  range  of 
coincidence  that  I  should  have  hit  upon  the  right  letter. 
In  the  second  trial  the  chances  were  also  one  to  six,  per  se  ; 
but  the  chances  that  I  should  succeed  twice  in  succession 


THE  PHYSICAL  PHENOMENA  OF  SPIRITISM.  279 

were  largely  against  me  \  and  the  fact  that  I  succeeded 
three  times  in  succession  in  pointing  out  the  right  letter 
removes  the  matter  far  outside  the  domain  of  coincidence. 
When  we  take  into  account  the  telepathic  power  displayed 
by  the  medium,  and  that  other  power,  whatever  it  may  have 
been,  which  transformed  me  for  the  moment  into  an  auto¬ 
maton,  the  incident  will  be  seen  to  possess  an  extraordinary 
interest  and  importance.  I  should  here  remark  that  that 
was  the  first  and  only  experience  of  my  own  in  the  domain 
of  subjective  automatism,  and  that  I  did  not  experience 
any  sensation  which  could  lead  me  to  suppose  that  I  was 
not  in  a  perfectly  normal  condition,  mentally  and  physically. 

The  most  remarkable  part  of  the  performance,  however, 
is  yet  to  be  related.  The  sitter  meantime  did  not  lose  his 
presence  of  mind,  but  carefully  guarded  the  pair  of  slates 
in  his  custody,  never  lifting  his  arms  from  them  as  they  lay 
upon  the  table  before  him.  Nor  did  he  for  an  instant  lose 
sight  of  the  wads  of  paper  which  he  placed  upon  the  table. 
The  medium  touched  them  with  his  finger-tips  alone,  as 
before  related  ;  and  after  I  had  pointed  out  the  three  letters, 
they  were  taken  into  the  custody  of  the  sitter.  This  done, 
the  medium  said  to  the  sitter  :  “  Open  the  slates,  and  you 

will  find  a  communication  from  G - .”  This  was  done, 

and  the  promised  communication  was  found,  addressed  to 

the  sitter  by  name  and  signed  by  G - ,  the  name  of  the 

sitter’s  brother.  In  fact,  it  was  a  pertinent  answer  to  the 
letter  written  by  the  sitter  to  his  brother,  addressed  as  the 
sitter  had  signed  his  name,  and  signed  as  the  sitter’s  brother 
had  been  addressed. 

The  medium  then  became  considerably  agitated,  and 
moved  with  convulsive  rapidity.  He  seized  two  other 
slates,  washed  them,  submitted  them  for  inspection,  and 
placed  them  upon  the  centre  of  the  table  before  us,  with  a 
bit  of  black  pencil  between  them.  He  then  invited  us  to 
place  our  hands  upon  the  slate  with  him.  This  we  did, 
whereupon  the  writing  began.  We  could  distinctly  hear 
the  pencil  move  with  a  gentle,  but  rapid,  scratching 
sound.  In  a  few  minutes  three  raps  were  heard,  appar- 


2 So  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


ently  made  by  the  pencil  between  the  slates.  This  was  said 
to  be  the  signal  announcing  the  completion  of  the  message. 
The  slates  were  then  separated,  and  several  messages  were 
found  inside. 

Two  more  slates  were  then  seized  by  the  medium,  washed, 
submitted  for  inspection,  and  placed  upon  the  table  as 
before.  Our  hands  were  again  placed  upon  the  slates, 
and  the  writing  again  began.  After  it  had  progressed  for 
a  few  moments,  the  medium  announced  that  the  spirits 
wanted  to  write  in  colors.  He  thereupon  arose,  walked  to 
the  mantelpiece,  and  produced  a  box  of  colored  crayons, 
all  in  small  bits,  about  the  size  of  the  piece  of  black  slate- 
pencil  with  which  the  writing  had  been  done.  We  were 
about  to  open  the  slates,  to  allow  the  insertion  of  the  cray¬ 
ons,  when  the  medium  said  that  it  was  unnecessary,  as  “  the 
colors  could  be  got  from  the  outside  just  as  well.”  The 
box  of  crayons  was  accordingly  placed  beside  the  slate,  and 
the  writing  was  resumed.  After  a  short  interval  the  signal 
was  given  that  the  messages  were  finished.  The  general 
thereupon  very  carefully  separated  the  slates,  to  see  if  there 
were  any  colored  crayons  concealed  therein.  Only  the  bit 
of  black  slate  pencil  was  there,  but  four  or  five  different 
colors  had  been  used  in  writing  the  messages. 

The  results  of  this  stance  may  be  summed  up  as  follows : 

The  contents  of  every  letter  written  by  the  sitter  were 
evidently  known  to  the  intelligence  which  wrote  the  replies, 
for  every  letter  received  an  appropriate  answer,  save  one, 
which  will  be  noted  further  on.  The  answer  to  each  letter 
was  addressed  to  the  name  signed  to  the  corresponding 
letter,  and  each  answer  was  signed  with  the  name  of  the 
person  to  whom  the  corresponding  letter  was  addressed. 

Six  letters  were  written  by  the  sitter,  as  before  stated. 
Three  of  them  were  written  to  deceased  friends  of  the  sitter, 
and  were  couched  in  such  general  terms  that  the  replies 
did  not  require  any  specific  knowledge  on  the  part  of  the 
intelligence  which  wrote  the  replies. 

Two  of  the  letters  were  written  to  living  persons,  and 
they  were  also  couched  in  general  terms,  requiring  no 


THE  PHYSICAL  PHENOMENA  OF  SPIRITISM.  28 1 


specific  knowledge  to  enable  an  appropriate  reply  to  be 
framed. 

Each  of  these  five  letters  received  a  reply  which  assumed 
that  its  writer  was  a  denizen  of  the  spirit-land.  There  was 
no  difference  in  their  replies  so  far  as  that  was  concerned. 

The  sixth  letter  was  addressed  to  a  deceased  relative,  and 
was  as  follows,  omitting  names  :  — 

Dear  A.  B., — Whom  did  you  desire  to  have  appointed  ad¬ 
ministrator  of  your  estate  ?  (Signed)  C.  D. 

To  this  letter  the  only  reply  was  from  the  medium’s 
“control,”  who  reported  as  follows:  — 

“  A.  B.  is  here,  but  cannot  communicate  to-day.” 

The  conclusions  which  are  inevitable  may  be  summed  as 
follows  :  — 

1.  The  slate-writing  was  done  without  physical  contact 
with  the  pencil,  either  by  the  medium  or  any  one  else.  It 
all  occurred  in  broad  daylight.  The  slates  were  not  han¬ 
dled  by  the  medium,  except  to  wash  them  and  to  place 
his  hands  upon  them  (in  all  cases  but  one)  while  the  writ¬ 
ing  was  going  on.  The  slates  were  not  for  an  instant  out  of 
sight  of  the  sitter  during  the  whole  stance,  nor  were  they 
out  of  his  custody  during  that  time,  after  they  were  washed 
by  the  medium.  They  were  then  carefully  inspected  by 
the  sitter,  the  pencil  was  placed  between  them  by  the  sitter, 
they  were  tied  together  by  the  sitter,  and  opened  by  him 
after  the  writing  was  finished.  In  short,  there  was  no 
chance  for  fraud  or  legerdemain,  and  there  was  none. 

2.  The  power  which  moved  the  pencil,  being  clearly 
not  physical,  must  have  been  occult.  This  occult  power 
was  either  that  of  disembodied  spirits,  or  that  of  the  me¬ 
dium.  Did  it  proceed  from  disembodied  spirits?  Let 
us  see.  The  replies  to  the  five  letters  emanated  from 
the  same  source ;  that  is  to  say,  if  the  replies  to  any  of 
them  were  from  disembodied  spirits,  they  were  all  from 
disembodied  spirits.  They  were  clearly  not  all  from  dis¬ 
embodied  spirits,  for  two  of  the  letters  were  addressed  to 


282  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 

living  persons,  and  the  replies  were  of  the  same  character 
as  the  others.  The  logical  conclusion  is  inevitable  that 
none  of  the  replies  were  from  disembodied  spirits.  To 
put  it  in  the  simple  form  of  a  syllogism,  we  have  the 
following :  — 

The  replies  to  the  five  letters  were  all  from  the  same 
source. 

Two  of  them  were  not  from  disembodied  spirits. 

Therefore,  none  of  them  were  from  disembodied  spirits. 

Again  : 

The  power  to  produce  the  slate-writing  emanated  either 
from  disembodied  spirits  or  from  the  medium. 

It  did  not  emanate  from  disembodied  spirits. 

Therefore,  it  emanated  from  the  medium. 

Having  now  logically  traced  the  phenomenon  to  the  door 
of  the  medium,  let  us  see  what  further  evidence  there  is  in 
support  of  that  conclusion.  And  first  let  us  inquire.  Is 
there  anything  inherently  improbable  in  the  theory  that 
he  was  the  source  of  the  intelligence  which  guided,  and  the 
power  which  moved,  the  pencil  ?  Was  there  any  intellec¬ 
tual  feat  performed  which  rendered  it  impossible  that  he 
should  have  been  its  author?  The  power  to  read  the  con¬ 
tents  of  the  six  letters  was  obviously  within  the  domain  of 
telepathy.  He  was,  therefore,  just  as  well  equipped  for  the 
performance  of  that  feat  as  a  disembodied  spirit  could  be. 
Suggestion  also  plays  its  subtle  role  in  this  class  of  phe¬ 
nomena,  as  in  all  others,  and  relieves  the  medium  of  all 
imputation  of  dishonesty  or  insincerity  in  attributing  it  to 
the  wrong  source.  The  probability  that  the  power  to  move 
the  pencil  without  physical  contact  resides  in  the  medium, 
is  as  great,  at  least,  as  the  probability  that  it  resides  in  dis¬ 
embodied  spirits.  All  these  questions  have,  however,  been 
fully  discussed,  and  are  mentioned  here  merely  to  complete 
the  chain  of  reasoning. 

There  was  nothing  apparent  in  the  answers  to  the  five 
letters  mentioned  which  would  indicate  that  they  ema¬ 
nated  from  any  source  other  than  the  medium.  They 
contained  no  information  possessed  exclusively  by  disem- 


THE  PHYSICAL  PHENOMENA  OP  SPIRITISM.  283 

bodied  spirits,  although  they  all  purported  to  emanate 
from  them.  The  five  letters  were  not,  however,  framed  for 
the  purpose  of  testing  the  knowledge  possessed  by  spirits, 
but  merely  to  show  that  the  replies  did  not  emanate  from 
that  source. 

The  sixth  letter,  however,  was  framed  for  the  express 
purpose  of  testing  the  knowledge  possessed  by  the  intelli¬ 
gence  which  moved  the  pencil.  The  question,  “  Whom 
did  you  desire  to  have  appointed  administrator  of  your 
estate?”  was  asked  because  the  sitter  did  not  know  the 
correct  answer,  and  he  knew  that  the  medium  could  not 
know.  The  knowledge  was  possessed  by  the  deceased  per 
son  exclusively ;  and  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  if  he 
was  present,  as  the  medium  declared  that  he  was,  he  would 
have  given  the  desired  information.  The  intelligence  which 
wrote  the  replies  was  in  full  possession  of  the  contents  of 
all  the  letters,  all  the  names  addressed,  and  all  the  signa¬ 
tures,  including  those  of  the  sixth  letter.  The  answers  to 
five  of  them  were  pertinent  and  intelligent,  no  specific 
knowledge  being  required.  But  when  the  sixth  was  reached, 
the  spirit  “  could  not  communicate  to-day.”  Why?  Sim¬ 
ply  because  the  specific  knowledge  required  to  answer  the 
question  was  not  in  the  possession  of  any  one  present,  and 
it  could  not,  therefore,  be  obtained  telepathically,  as  the 
knowledge  of  the  contents  of  the  other  letters  was  obtained. 

This  is  the  rock  upon  which  all  so-called  spirit  inter¬ 
course  splits.  Everything  goes  along  swimmingly  as  long 
as  the  medium  knows  what  to  reply,  or  can  obtain  informa¬ 
tion  by  means  of  his  telepathic  or  clairvoyant  powers.  But 
the  moment  he  is  confronted  by  a  question  requiring  knowl¬ 
edge  not  obtainable  in  that  way,  he  fails  dismally. 

The  circumstances  of  this  stance  have  been  detailed  for 
the  reason  that  it  was  a  typical  stance.  It  displayed  all 
the  essential  characteristics  of  modern  spirit  intercourse,  so- 
called.  The  medium  displayed  all  the  essential  powers  and 
attributes  of  good  mediumship.  The  physical  phenomena 
were  produced  to  perfection,  and  under  the  most  perfect 
test-conditions.  The  telepathic  powers  displayed  were  of 


284  the  law  of  psychic  phenomena. 


the  most  extraordinary  character,  and  the  conditions  under 
which  they  were  produced  were  also  such  as  to  preclude 
the  possibility  of  fraud  or  legerdemain.  The  results  were 
also  perfect  in  their  character,  showing,  as  they  did,  both 
the  powers  of  the  medium  and  his  limitations.  The  dual 
character  of  the  human  mind  was  also  clearly  manifested, 
and  the  perfect  amenability  of  the  subjective  entity  to  con¬ 
trol  by  the  power  of  suggestion  was  demonstrated. 

It  would  be  interesting  to  pursue  the  subject  of  physical 
manifestations  further,  and  to  examine  all  their  multiform 
•iharacteristics ;  but  that  would  be  foreign  to  the  purposes 
of  this  book.  The  examination  of  the  mental  character¬ 
istics  of  the  intelligence  which  controls  the  different  mani¬ 
festations  is  our  only  purpose,  and  we  have  shown  that  the 
same  laws  prevail  in  all.  It  is  believed  that  enough  has 
been  said  to  enable  the  conscientious  investigator,  who 
wishes  to  test  the  correctness  of  our  hypothesis,  to  apply 
its  fundamental  propositions  to  all  psychic  phenomena.  It 
is  also  believed  that  whoever  so  applies  those  propositions 
will  arrive  at  the  same  conclusions  to  which  I  have  come ; 
namely,  that  there  is  no  valid  evidence,  in  any  of  the  phe¬ 
nomena  of  so-called  spiritism,  that  the  spirits  of  the  dead 
have  any  part  in  their  production.  On  the  contrary,  as  it 
seems  to  me,  the  evidence  all  points  in  the  opposite  direc¬ 
tion.  I  refer,  of  course,  solely  to  those  phenomena  which 
are  produced  through  so-called  spirit  mediums.  If  there 
is  any  communication  to  be  had  with  the  denizens  of  the 
other  shore,  it  is  certainly  not  through  them.  I  have  re¬ 
luctantly  arrived  at  this  conclusion.  It  would  be  pleasant 
to  believe  otherwise,  but  I  have  sought  in  vain  for  evi¬ 
dence  which  would  warrant  me  in  doing  so. 

In  abandoning  all  hope  of  obtaining  valid  evidence  of 
the  ability  of  disembodied  spirits  to  hold  intercourse  with 
the  living  through  the  intervention  of  spirit  mediums,  I  do 
not  for  a  moment  yield  my  hope,  or  my  convictions,  of  a 
life  beyond  the  grave.  On  the  contrary,  the  very  powers 
which  are  evoked  in  the  production  of  the  phenomena  con¬ 
stitute  one  of  the  strongest  links  in  the  chain  of  evidence 


THE  PHYSICAL  PHENOMENA  OF  SPIRITISM.  285 

going  to  show  that  man  possesses  within  himself  an  entity 
which  does  not  depend  for  its  existence  upon  the  contin¬ 
ued  life  of  the  body.  We  see  that  this  entity  possesses 
powers  which  for  transcend  those  of  our  physical  frame  j 
that  the  mental  powers  of  the  subjective  mind  or  entity  are 
exercised  independently  of  our  objective  senses  j  that  they 
grow  stronger  as  the  body  grows  weaker,  and  are  strongest 
in  the  hour  of  death.  Have  we  not  a  logical  right  to  infer 
that  when  it  is  entirely  freed  from  physical  trammels,  it  will 
have  reached  a  condition  of  independent  existence?  What 
that  existence  is,  it  is  not  for  objective  man  to  know. 
It  is  possible  that  if  spirits  could  communicate  as  famil¬ 
iarly  with  the  living  as  we  commune  with  one  another,  they 
would  have  no  language  which  could  bring  to  our  compre¬ 
hension  their  true  condition.  It  would  be  like  teaching  an 
infant  the  principles  of  the  differential  calculus.  How  can 
the  caterpillar,  crawling  upon  the  ground,  hold  intelligent 
communion  with  the  airy  butterfly,  or  the  butterfly  reveal 
to  the  caterpillar  the  mysteries  of  her  winged  life? 

The  fact  remains  that  mankind  has  ever  hoped,  and  will 
ever  hope,  for  a  continued  existence  of  some  kind ;  and 
all  the  old  arguments  in  its  favor,  and  all  the  promises  of 
the  Master,  still  hold  good.  Moreover,  every  new  develop¬ 
ment  in  psychic  science  adds  strength  to  the  arguments, 
and  fresh  proofs  of  his  wisdom. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

PHANTASMS  OF  THE  DEAD. 

Ghosts.  —  Scientific  Investigations.  —  Tentative  Classification  of  Phe¬ 
nomena.  —  Power  to  create  Phantasms  demonstrated.  —  Inves¬ 
tigations  of  the  London  Society  for  Psychical  Research.  —  Spirit 
Photography. —  Projection  of  the  “Astral  Body.” Witches. — 
Conditions  necessary.  —  The  same  in  all  Cases.  —  Spirit  “  Materi¬ 
alization.” —  Magicians.  —  Ghosts  the  Creations  of  the  Subjective 
Entity.  —  Eliphas  Levi’s  Views.  —  Raising  the  Devil.  —  Crystal 
Visions.  —  Propositions  established.  —  Embodied  Thoughts.  — 
Phantasms  not  Spirits.  —  Uniform  Characteristics.  —  A  New 
Classification.  —  Conditions  of  Objectivity  and  Persistency.  — 
Haunted  Houses.  —  No  General  Intelligence  manifested.  —  D’As- 
sier’s  Statements.  —  A  Remarkable  Case.  —  Ghosts  Intensified 
Telepathic  Visions.  —  Difference  in  Degree,  not  in  Kind.  —  Ghosts 
not  controllable  by  Suggestion.  —  Other  Salient  Peculiarities.  — 
Ghosts  neither  prove  nor  disprove  Immortality.  — Mental  Atmos¬ 
phere  of  Houses.  —  Remarkable  Cases.  —  Classification  of  Tele¬ 
pathic  Phenomena.  —  Conclusions. 

'^HERE  is  another  class  of  phenomena  which  demands 
*  a  brief  notice,  although  it  does  not  pertain  directly 
to  the  development  of  the  hypothesis  under  consideration. 
It  is  that  of  phantasms  of  the  dead,  or  ghosts.  Scientific 
investigations  of  modern  times  have  demonstrated  the  fact 
that  many  of  the  ghost-stories  which  have  terrified  the 
timid  in  all  ages  of  the  world  have  a  real  foundation  in 
fact ;  that  is,  it  has  been  demonstrated  that  certain  impal¬ 
pable  shapes,  resembling  persons  deceased,  do  from  time 
to  time  appear  to  the  living.  The  world  is  indebted  more 
than  it  can  ever  repay  to  the  London  Society  for  Psychi¬ 
cal  Research  for  its  patient,  untiring,  and  strictly  scien- 


PHANTASMS  OF  THE  DEAD. 


287 

tific  investigations  of  this  subject.  Many  facts  have  been 
accumulated,  but  they  have  not  yet  been  classified  with 
reference  to  any  special  theory  or  hypothesis.  It  is  per¬ 
haps  too  early  to  formulate  any  hypothesis  pertaining  to  the 
subject-matter.  It  is  certainly  too  early  to  dogmatize.  The 
most  that  can  safely  be  done  is  to  speculate  tentatively,  and 
to  suggest  a  line  of  thought  and  investigation  for  those  who 
are  devoting  their  time  to  the  work.  It  is  my  purpose  to 
do  this,  and  this  alone,  in  the  hope  that  if  the  suggestions 
seem  to  be  worthy  of  consideration,  the  subject  may  be 
pursued  on  the  lines  indicated  until  their  fallacy  is  exposed 
or  their  correctness  demonstrated. 

It  seems  to  me  that  sufficient  facts  have  been  accumu¬ 
lated  to  establish,  provisionally  at  least,  certain  definite  char¬ 
acteristics  of  all  phantasms,  whether  of  the  living  or  the  dead  ; 
and  if  a  theory  can  be  formulated,  however  startling  it  may 
be  at  first  glance,  that  will  harmonize  with  the  well-estab¬ 
lished  characteristics  of  the  phenomena,  it  will  be  at  least 
worthy  of  consideration.  In  attempting  to  do  this,  I  shall 
not  quote  authorities  to  any  extent  to  establish  my  prem¬ 
ises,  but  shall  state  merely  what  seems  to  be  well  authen¬ 
ticated,  and  leave  the  verification  of  the  premises,  as  well 
as  the  conclusions,  to  those  who  have  more  time,  patience, 
and  ability  to  devote  to  the  work  than  I  have. 

First  of  all,  then,  it  seems  to  be  well  authenticated  that 
the  subjective  personality  of  man  possesses  the  power  to 
create  phantasms,  or  visions,  which  in  many  instances  are 
visible  to  the  objective  senses  of  others.  The  telepathic 
experiments  recorded  in  “  Phantasms  of  the  Living  ”  and 
in  the  Proceedings  of  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research 
amply  demonstrate  the  truth  of  this  proposition.  Every 
vision  perceived  by  one  in  telepathic  rapport  with  another 
must  be  presumed  to  have  been  created  by  one  or  the  other. 
It  is  true  that  some  of  the  visions  may  be  merely  per¬ 
ceived  subjectively,  but  not  all.  Many  cases  are  recorded 
where  the  phantasms  have  been  perceived  by  more  than 
one  person  at  the  same  time,  and  others  have  been  per¬ 
ceived  under  circumstances  such  as  to  leave  no  doubt  that 


288  THE  LA  W  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 

the  percipient  was  in  a  completely  normal  condition,  and 
saw  the  visions  objectively.  Moreover,  the  phenomena  of 
so-called  spirit  photography  amply  demonstrate  the  fact 
that  visions  can  be  created  of  such  tangible  character  that 
they  can  be  caught  and  fixed  upon  the  photographic  plate. 
In  saying  this  I  am  not  insensible  of  the  fact  that  many 
frauds  have  been  committed  in  this  species  of  phenomena, 
as  vfrell  as  in  all  others  attributed  to  spirits  of  the  dead.  But 
this  does  not  militate  against  phenomena  of  that  character 
which  have  been  produced  under  test  conditions  so  strict 
that  all  possibility  of  fraud  was  eliminated.  In  admitting 
this  class  of  phenomena  to  be  genuine,  in  the  sense  that  it 
is  sometimes  produced  without  fraud  or  legerdemain,  it  is 
also  admitted  that,  in  many  instances,  pictures  of  the  sitter’s 
dead  friends  have  been  produced  which  were  such  perfect 
likenesses  of  the  deceased  as  to  be  unmistakable.  Of 
course  it  will  be  understood  that  whilst  I  admit  the  phe¬ 
nomenon,  I  do  not  admit  the  claim  that  it  has  its  origin  in 
the  spirit-world.  Like  all  other  so-called  spirit  phenomena, 
it  is,  in  my  opinion,  directly  traceable  to  the  power  of 
the  subjective  mind  of  the  medium,  aided  by  telepathic 
communion  with  the  sitter.  The  latter,  consciously  or  un¬ 
consciously,  thinks  of  one  or  more  of  his  dead  friends. 
The  medium,  perceiving  telepathically  the  image  created 
by  the  mind  of  the  sitter,  re-creates  it  in  such  tangible 
shape  that  it  is  caught  by  the  camera.  Or  it  may  be  in 
some  instances  that  the  image  is  created  by  the  sitter  him¬ 
self  in  such  palpable  shape  as  to  be  caught  by  the  camera. 
Indeed,  in  many  recorded  instances,  where  the  sitter  has 
been  a  powerful  medium,  it  seems  probable  that  he  created 
the  image  himself.  In  point  of  fact  there  is  little  doubt  that 
the  power  resides,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  in  all  human 
beings  to  create  such  images,  their  strength  and  clearness 
depending,  of  course,  upon  the  power  of  the  individual  to 
recall  vividly  the  remembrance  of  the  person  to  be  photo¬ 
graphed,  together  with  the  power  to  concentrate  his  mind 
for  a  certain  length  of  time  upon  the  mental  picture.  In¬ 
deed,  experiments  have  been  made  which  demonstrate  the 


PHANTASMS  OF  THE  DEAD.  289 

power  to  produce  the  picture  of  any  one,  living  or  dead,  in 
this  manner. 

This  being  true,  two  conclusions  are  obvious  j  namely, 
( I )  That  the  phenomena  of  spirit  photography  are  easily 
accounted  for,  without  the  necessity  of  attributing  them  to 
extramundane  origin  ;  and  (2)  That  the  power  resides  in  the 
subjective  mind  of  man  to  create  phantasms  perceptible  to 
the  objective  senses  of  others.  Again,  it  seems  to  be  well  es¬ 
tablished  by  experiment  that  some  persons  have  the  power, 
not  only  to  create  such  phantasms,  but  to  endow  them  with  a 
certain  degree  of  intelligence  and  power.  I'hus,  the  experi¬ 
ments  recorded  in  “  Phantasms  of  the  Living,”  and  quoted 
in  a  preceding  chapter  of  this  book,  show  that  the  image 
of  the  agent  was  not  only  created  by  him  in  his  sleep,  but 
was  projected  into  the  presence  of  others  at  a  long  distance 
from  where  he  slept.  The  image  was  not  only  perceptible 
to  the  sight,  as  much  so  as  the  real  presence  would  have 
been,  but  in  some  instances  it  was  even  tangible.  The 
Orientalists  call  this  the  “  projection  of  the  astral  body,” 
and  it  is  claimed  that  many  persons  in  the  East  have 
acquired  the  power  to  produce  the  phenomenon  at  will. 
The  fact  that  phantasms  can  thus  be  produced  being  well 
authenticated,  many  old  stories  of  such  phenomena  acquire 
a  new  interest  and  importance,  and  assume  an  air  of  prob¬ 
ability.  Thus,  the  old  stories  of  witches,  in  so  far  as  the 
alleged  phenomena  seem  to  have  been  produced  under  the 
same  conditions  as  those  which  are  well  authenticated,  are 
elevated  into  the  region  of  possibility,  if  not  of  probability. 
They  are  at  least  worthy  of  re-examination,  in  the  light  of 
modern  experiments.  It  is  foreign  to  my  purpose  to  enter 
at  large  into  the  discussion  of  the  alleged  phenomena  of 
so-called  witchcraft,  and  this  allusion  is  made  here  for  the 
purpose  of  suggesting  to  those  who  desire  to  pursue  the 
subject  that  if  they  will  take  for  granted  that  which  has 
been  demonstrated  to  be  true  in  regard  to  the  power  of  the 
sub-conscious  mind,  or  personality,  to  project  tangible  phan¬ 
tasms  or  images,  and  will  apply  the  doctrine  of  duality  and 
suggestion  to  the  alleged  facts,  the  old  stories  of  the  phe- 

IQ 


290  THE  LA  IV  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 

nomena  of  witchcraft  will  be  found  to  possess  a  scientific 
value  and  importance  which  cannot  be  ignored  in  the  study 
of  psychology. 

For  the  purposes  of  this  argument  it  will  be  assumed  that 
the  power  of  man,  under  certain  conditions,  to  project 
phantasms  is  provisionally  established.  The  next  question 
is.  What  are  the  conditions  ?  If  we  find  that  the  conditions 
are  practically  the  same  in  all  cases,  one  great  step  in  the 
classification  of  the  phenomena  will  have  been  taken. 

The  one  condition  which  seems  to  be  necessary  in  all 
cases  for  the  production  of  the  phenomena  is  that  of  profound 
sleep,  either  natural  or  artificial.  The  objective  senses  must 
be  locked  in  slumber,  and  the  more  profound  the  sleep, 
the  greater  the  power  seems  to  be.  Thus,  in  the  cases 
recorded  in  “  Phantasms  of  the  Living,”  the  sleep  was  nat¬ 
ural,  but  profound.  It  was  at  least  so  profound  that  the 
agent  had  no  recollection  of  actually  doing  what  he  had 
resolved  to  do,  and  it  was  only  brought  to  his  knowledge  by 
the  subsequent  statements  made  by  the  percipients.  It  is 
said,  however,  that  sometimes  the  agent  retains  full  recol¬ 
lection  of  what  he  did.  Be  this  as  it  may,  the  fact  remains 
that  the  one  essential  condition  for  the  successful  produc¬ 
tion  of  the  phenomena  is  that  of  sleep.  Again,  the  Orien¬ 
talists  tell  us  the  same  thing.  Their  adepts  lock  themselves 
in  their  rooms,  which  are  carefully  protected  against  inva¬ 
sion,  and  go  into  a  sleep  so  profound  as  to  simulate  death. 
The  witches  were  known  to  employ  artificial  means  to  pro¬ 
duce  sleep.  Formulas  for  producing  what  was  known  as 
“  witches’  ointment  ”  are  still  extant.  It  was  composed  of 
the  most  powerful  narcotics,  made  into  an  ointment  by  the 
addition  of  some  fatty  substance.  The  body  of  the  witch 
was  anointed  from  head  to  foot,  and  she  then  went  to  bed 
in  some  place  secure  from  observation  or  disturbance,  and 
lapsed  into  a  profound  sleep.  This  much  is  known,  and 
many  wonderful  phenomena  are  alleged  to  have  been  pro¬ 
duced,  prominent  among  which  was  the  creation  of  various 
shapes,  such  as  the  image  of  herself,  images  of  cats,  dogs, 
wolves,  etc.,  which  were  sent  to  worry  and  annoy  her  neigh- 


PHANTASMS  OF  THE  DEAD. 


391 


bors  or  any  one  against  whom  she  had  a  grudge.  In  fact, 
the  shapes  alleged  to  have  been  produced  are  protean. 

Another  alleged  phenomenon  of  cognate  character  is  that 
of  so-called  spirit  materialization.  In  the  production  of 
this  phenomenon  the  conditions  are  the  same.  The  me¬ 
dium  goes  into  a  trance,  or  hypnotic  state,  and  projects 
the  shapes  of  various  persons,  generally  of  the  deceased 
friends  of  some  of  those  present.  A  good  medium  will 
produce  any  number  of  visions,  of  any  number  of  persons, 
men  and  women,  large  and  small.  Spiritists  believe,  of 
course,  that  the  real  spirits  of  their  friends  are  present, 
and  are  thus  made  visible  to  mortal  eyes,  and  in  many 
instances  tangible,  and  able  to  hold  a  brief  conversation 
with  their  friends.  As  the  intellectual  part  of  the  per¬ 
formance  of  these  alleged  spirits  is  always  on  a  par  with 
that  of  other  forms  of  spirit  manifestation,  subject  to  the 
same  limitations  and  governed  by  the  same  laws,  we  must 
come  to  the  same  conclusion  as  to  their  origin,  namely,  that, 
whatever 'it  may  be,  it  is  not  due  to  spirits  of  the  dead. 

The  old  stories  of  the  power  of  magicians  to  conjure 
alleged  spirits  are  also  raised  into  the  region  of  probability 
by  these  considerations.  They  also  observed  the  same  con¬ 
ditions  required  in  all  the  other  cases  mentioned.  By  the 
performance  of  certain  impressive  ceremonies,  which  they 
were  taught  to  believe  were  necessary,  they  were  said  to  be 
able  to  evoke  so-called  spirits  and  to  do  many  other  wonder¬ 
ful  things.  The  ceremonies  and  incantations,  together  with 
'the  impressive  environment  with  which  they  surrounded 
themselves,  the  incense,  the  slow  music,  the  “  dim  religious 
light,”  the  solemn  invocations,  —  all  had  a  tendency  to  throw 
them  into  the  subjective  condition,  and  thus  enable  them 
to  evoke  the  shapes  desired.  That  these  shapes  were  lit¬ 
eral  creations  of  the  subjective  personality  of  the  magician, 
rather  than  the  actual  spirits  invoked,  there  is  every  reason 
to  believe.  Nor  are  we  alone  in  that  opinion;  Eliphas 
Levi,  than  whom  no  modern  writer  on  the  subject  of  magic 
is  better  informed  or  more  honest  in  the  expression  of  his 
real  convictions,  gives  utterance  to  the  following :  — 


292 


THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


“Human  thought  creates  what  it  imagines;  the  phantoms 
of  superstition  project  their  real  deformity  in  the  Astral  Light, 
and  live  by  the  very  terrors  they  produce.  They  owe  their  being 
to  the  delusions  of  imagination  and  to  the  aberration  of  the 
senses,  and  are  never  produced  in  the  presence  of  any  one  who 
knows  and  can  expose  the  mystery  of  their  monstrous  birth.”  i 

Again,  on  page  1 6o,  he  says  :  — 

“  The  evokers  of  the  Devil  must  before  all  things  belong  to 
a  religion  which  believes  in  a  Devil  who  is  the  rival  of  God.  To 
have  recourse  to  a  power,  we  must  believe  in  it.  A  firm  faith 
being  therefore  granted  in  the  religion  of  Satan,  here  is  the 
method  of  communicating  with  this  pseudo-god  :  — 

Magical  Axiom. 

Within  the  circle  of  its  action,  every  Logos  creates  what  it  affirms. 

Direct  Consequence. 

He  who  affirms  the  Devil  creates  the  Devil.” 

The  author  then  goes  on  to  give  minute  directions  for 
performing  the  ceremonies  necessary  for  raising  the  Devil, 
so  to  speak,  with  which  we  have  nothing  to  do  at  present ; 
these  quotations  being  made  merely  for  the  purpose  of 
showing  that  the  greatest  and  most  philosophical  magician 
of  this  century  was  fully  aware  that  the  shapes  evoked  by 
the  Magi,  whether  they  be  of  angels  or  of  demons,  whether 
they  be  perceptible  to  the  objective  senses  or  merely  sub¬ 
jective  hallucinations,  tangible  or  intangible,  are  the  crea¬ 
tions  of  the  mind  of  the  magician. 

The  phenomenon  of  crystal  vision  is  another  illustration 
of  the  power  of  the  subjective  mind  to  create  visions.  Or¬ 
dinarily  these  visions  are  only  perceptible  to  the  operator ; 
but  cases  are  recorded  where  they  were  perfectly  percep¬ 
tible  to  the  bystanders.  The  conditions  necessary  for  suc¬ 
cessful  crystal  reading  are  practically  the  same  as  in  all 
other  cases,  although  the  subjective  condition  is  not  ordi¬ 
narily  so  pronounced.  This  phenomenon  illustrates,  how¬ 
ever,  the  power  of  the  subjective  mind  to  create  phantasms, 
and  constitutes  one  of  the  many  methods  of  bringing  the 

1  Eliphas  Levi :  Waite’s  Digest,  p.  ii8. 


PffAJVrASA/S  OF  THE  DEAD. 


293 


operations  of  the  subjective  mind  above  the  threshold  of 
consciousness.  It  is  one  of  the  best  methods  known  of 
exercising  the  power  of  telepathy,  the  visions  being  objec¬ 
tive  reproductions  of  what  is  real  or  perceived  in  the  mind 
of  the  person  who  consults  the  medium.  If  no  one  is  pres¬ 
ent  besides  the  medium  or  operator,  he  sees  merely  what 
his  own  subjective  mind  creates.  It  is  perhaps  superfluous 
to  remark  that  the  phenomenon  is  governed  by  the  same 
laws  which  pertain  to  all  other  subjective  phenomena,  and 
the  intelligence  displayed  is  hedged  about  by  the  same 
limitations. 

I  have  now  enumerated  several  different  sub-classes  of 
the  phenomena  which  are  concerned  in  the  creation  of 
visions.  In  each  sub-class  instances  are  recorded  of  the 
visions  being  made  perceptible  to  the  objective  senses  of 
others.  As  remarked  in  the  beginning  of  this  chapter,  we 
do  not  propose  to  stop  to  verify  the  phenomena  of  each 
class.  It  is  sufficient  to  know  that  the  phenomena  of  one 
of  the  sub-classes  is  verified  by  scientific  authority.  For 
present  purposes  the  rest  must  stand  or  fall  by  that.  At 
any  rate,  we  shall  assume  the  right  to  hold  that  any  cognate 
phenomenon,  alleged  to  have  been  produced  under  the  same 
conditions  as  those  which  have  been  demonstrated  to  be 
veridical,  is  entitled  to  tentative  consideration  and  credit. 

It  is  assumed,  therefore,  that  the  following  propositions 
are  sufficiently  verified  for  the  purpose  of  formulating  a 
definite  theory  of  proximate  causation  :  — 

1.  The  alleged  phenomena  are  all  produced  under  the 
same  conditions. 

2.  The  one  essential  condition  is  that  of  the  partial  or 
total  suspension  of  objective  consciousness. 

3.  The  more  complete  the  extinction  of  the  objective 
consciousness,  the  more  pronounced  the  success  of  the  ex¬ 
periment  ;  that  is,  the  more  tangible  to  the  objective  senses 
of  others  do  the  creations  become. 

From  these  facts  it  is  fair  to  conclude,  — 

T.  That  the  power  to  create  phantasms  resides  and  is 
inherent  in  the  subjective  mind,  or  personality,  of  man. 


294  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


2.  That  the  power  becomes  greater  as  the  body  ap¬ 
proaches  nearer  to  the  condition  of  death ;  that  is,  as  the 
subjective,  or  hypnotic,  condition  becomes  deeper,  and  the 
subjective  personality  in  consequence  becomes  stronger  in 
its  sphere  of  activity. 

3.  That  at  the  hour  of  death,  or  when  the  functions  of 
the  body  are  entirely  suspended,  the  power  is  greatest. 

Hence,  ghosts. 

It  will  be  understood  from  the  foregoing  that  my  theory 
is  that  ghosts,  or  phantasms  of  the  dead,  are  produced  ex¬ 
actly  as  phantasms  of  the  living  are  produced  ;  that  is,  they 
are  creations  of  the  subjective  entity.  How  they  are  cre¬ 
ated  is  of  course  a  question  that  may  never  be  answered 
in  terms  comprehensible  by  the  objective  intelligence  of 
man.  It  is  as  far  beyond  our  finite  comprehension  as  are 
the  processes  by  which  the  Infinite  Mind  has  brought  the 
universe  into  being.  All  that  we  can  know  is  the  fact  that 
phantasms  are  created  by  some  power  inherent  in  the  sub¬ 
jective  personality  of  man.  They  may  be  called  “  embodied 
thoughts,”  as  man  may  be  called  the  embodied  thought  of 
God.  If,  as  the  Scriptures  teach  us,  “  we  are  gods,”  that 
is,  “  sons  of  God  ”  and  “  heirs  of  God  and  joint-heirs  with 
Jesus  Christ,”  it  is  fair  to  presume  that  that  part  of  the 
Infinite  which  is  embodied  in  each  of  us  must  partake,  to 
a  limited  extent,  of  His  power  to  create.  Experimental 
psychology  suggests  to  us  that  we  have  that  power,  and 
that  it  is  thus  that  phantasms  are  produced. 

To  the  supposition  that  phantasms  of  the  dead  are  thus 
created  is  opposed  but  one  other  hypothesis,  and  that  is, 
that  the  phantasms  are  the  real  spirits  of  the  dead  per¬ 
sons  whom  they  represent.  Granted  that  ghosts  do  exist 
and  make  themselves  manifest  to  the  living,  one  or  the 
other  of  these  hypotheses  must  be  true,  and  the  other 
false.  To  determine  which  is  true,  we  must  have  recourse 
to  the  ghosts  themselves ;  that  is,  we  must  collate  the 
facts  regarding  the  characteristics  of  these  supposed  dwel¬ 
lers  on  the  border-land,  and  ask  ourselves  whether  their 
known  and  admitted  characteristics  are  those  which  would 


PHANTASMS  OF  THE  DEAD.  295 

naturally  belong  to  the  real  spirit  of  a  man,  or  to  an 
embodied  thought  ot  a  man. 

The  salient  characteristics  which  seem  to  belong  to  all 
ghosts,  and  which  pertain  to  the  question  under  considera¬ 
tion,  are  these  :  — 

The  ghosts  which  are  best  authenticated  and  which  seem 
to  possess  the  greatest  longevity,  so  to  speak,  —  that  is,  the 
greatest  persistency  of  power  and  purpose,  —  are  of  those 
who  have  died  violent  deaths.  I'here  are  exceptions  to  this 
rule,  which  will  be  noted  later  on. 

d’he  generally  accepted  theory  which  has  been  employed 
to  account  for  this  coincidence  is  that  the  soul,  thus  torn 
suddenly  and  prematurely  from  the  body,  retains  more  of 
the  material  elements  of  the  body  than  it  does  when  death 
is  the  result  of  gradual  disintegration  and  the  natural  sepa¬ 
ration  of  the  material  from  the  immaterial.  It  is  thought 
that  the  physical  elements  thus  retained  temporarily  by 
the  spirit  enable  it  to  make  itself  visible  to  the  living, 
as  well  as  to  perform  certain  feats  of  physical  strength 
attributed  to  some  spirits.  This  is  very  plausible  at  first 
glance,  and  in  the  absence  of  any  facts  to  the  contrary 
might  be  accepted  as  the  true  theory.  But,  as  before 
intimated,  there  are  exceptions  to  the  supposed  rule.  It 
is  not  true  that  all  ghosts  are  those  of  persons  who  have 
died  violent  deaths.  On  the  contrary,  many  of  the  best 
authenticated  ghosts  are  of  persons  who  have  died  at  a  good 
old  age  and  in  the  due  course  of  nature.  Moreover,  there 
is  nothing  to  distinguish  the  one  class  of  ghosts  from  the 
other,  although  it  is  true  that  those  who  have  met  death  by 
violence  far  outnumber  the  others.  This  theory,  therefore, 
accounts  for  nothing.  Nevertheless,  the  fact  that  the  major¬ 
ity  of  ghosts  are  of  those  who  belong  to  a  particular  class 
must  possess  some  significance.  Now,  if  we  can  discover 
some  state  of  facts  which  appears  to  accompany  all,  or 
to  precede  all,  ghostly  phenomena,  a  great  point  will  be 
gained,  and  the  real  significance  of  the  other  facts  may 
become  apparent. 

In  looking  the  field  over  with  this  end  in  view,  the  first 


296  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 

fact  which  forces  itself  upon  our  attention,  and  which  seems 
to  be  universal  and  to  possess  a  veritable  significance,  is 
that  all  phantasms  of  the  dead  are  of  those  who  have  died 
under  circumstances  of  great  mental  stress  or  emotion.  No 
one  whose  death  was  peaceful  and  quiet,  no  one  who  left 
this  life  with  no  unsatisfied  longing  or  desire  present  in  the 
mind  at  the  time  of  death,  ever  projected  a  phantasm  upon 
the  living  objective  world. 

Again,  the  strength,  persistency,  and  objectivity  of  the 
phantasm  seem  to  be  in  exact  proportion  to  the  intensity 
of  the  emotion  experienced  at  the  moment  of  death. 

It  will  thus  be  apparent  why  it  happens  that  ghosts  of 
those  who  have  died  violent  deaths  more  frequently  “  re¬ 
visit  the  glimpses  of  the  moon  ”  than  those  whose  deaths 
have  been  less  tragic  and  less  calculated  to  inspire  an  in¬ 
tense  desire  or  emotion.  The  murdered  man  feels,  at  the 
supreme  moment,  an  intense  longing  to  acquaint  the  world 
with  the  circumstances  of  his  “  taking  off;”  and  he  conceives 
the  thought  of  reproducing  the  scene  on  the  spot  until  its 
significance  is  understood  and  the  murderer  is  brought  to 
justice.  The  result  is  a  haunted  house ;  and  those  whose 
nerves  are  strong  enough  to  withstand  the  shock  may  nightly 
witness  a  realistic  reproduction  of  the  tragedy.  This  may 
continue  for  days,  months,  or  even  years,  but  invariably 
ceases  when  the  object  is  accomplished. 

The  character  of  the  manifestations  is  as  varied  as  are 
the  phases  of  human  emotion  or  the  objects  of  human 
desire ;  but  when  the  facts  of  a  tragedy  once  come  to 
light,  the  phantasm  is  always  found  to  be  significant  of 
their  important  features. 

When  a  mother  dies  at  a  distance  from  her  children,  she 
is  often  filled  with  an  intense  longing  to  see  them  once 
more  before  she  passes  away.  The  result  often  is  that  she 
projects  a  phantasm  into  their  presence  which  takes  a 
lingering  look  into  the  faces  of  the  loved  ones,  and  then 
fades  away. 

Two  persons  agree  that  whichever  passes  away  first  shall 
show  himself  to  the  other  at  or  soon  after  the  hour  of  death. 


PHANTASMS  OF  THE  DEAD. 


297 


The  result  often  is  that  the  agreement  is  carried  out  with 
startling  fidelity.  The  object  accomplished,  the  phantasm 
disappears  forever. 

Another  salient  characteristic,  which  seems  to  be  uni¬ 
versal  and  which  possesses  the  utmost  interest  and  impor¬ 
tance  in  determining  the  true  source  of  the  phantasm,  is 
that  it  possesses  no  general  intelligence.  That  is  to  say, 
a  ghost  was  never  known  to  have  more  than  one  idea  or 
purpose.  That  one  idea  or  purpose  it  will  follow  with  the 
greatest  pertinacity,  but  utterly  ignores  everything  else.  In 
the  rare  instances  where  the  phantasm  has  been  conversed 
with,  it  manifests  perfect  intelligence  on  the  one  subject,  but 
pays  not  the  slightest  attention  to  any  question  pertaining  to 
any  other,  not  even  to  cognate  subjects.  This  characteristic 
pertains  to  every  form  and  phase  of  visions  which  are  tan¬ 
gible  to  the  objective  senses.  Subjective  hallucinations  are 
governed  by  different  laws,  and  are  not  taken  into  account  in 
this  connection. 

M.  Adolphe  d’Assier,  in  his  intensely  interesting  work 
entitled  “  Posthumous  Humanity,”  mentions  this  peculiarity 
in  a  number  of  instances.  Thus,  on  page  272  he  says  : 

“  The  shade  only  talks  about  its  personal  predilections,  and 
remains  deaf  to  every  question  outside  the  limits  it  has  prescribed 
for  itself.  All  the  colloquies  that  have  been  gathered  upon  this 
subject  resemble  that  of  Bezuel  and  Desfontaine  (1697),  reported 
by  Dr.  Bri^re  de  Boismont.  They  were  two  college  comrades, 
two  intimate  friends,  who  had  sworn  to  each  other  that  the  first 
who  died  should  appear  to  the  other  to  give  him  some  news  about 
himself.” 

Accordingly,  the  year  following,  the  shade  of  Desfontaine 
appeared  to  Bezuel,  and  addressed  him  as  follows :  — 

“  ‘  I  agreed  with  you  that  if  I  died  first  I  should  come  and  tell 
you.  I  was  drowned  in  the  Caen  River  the  day  before  yesterday, 
at  this  same  hour,  in  company  of  Such  and  Such ;  ’  and  he  re¬ 
lated  the  circumstances  which  caused  his  death.  ‘  It  was  his 
very  voice,’  says  Bezuel.  ‘  He  requested  me,  when  his  brother 
should  return,  to  tell  him  certain  things  to  be  communicated  to 
his  father  and  mother.  He  gave  me  other  commissions,  then 


298  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 

bade  me  farewell  and  disappeared.  I  soon  learned  that  every¬ 
thing  he  had  told  me  was  but  too  true,  and  I  was  able  to  verify 
some  details  that  he  had  given.  In  our  conversation  he  refused 
to  answer  all  the  questions  I  put  to  him  as  to  his  actual  situa¬ 
tion,  especially  whether  he  was  in  heaven,  in  hell,  or  in  purgatory. 
One  would  have  said  that  he  did  not  hear  me  when  1  put  such 
questions,  and  he  persisted  in  talking  to  me  of  that  which  was 
upon  his  mind  about  his  brother,  his  family,  or  the  circumstances 
which  had  preceded  his  death.’  ” 

It  should  be  stated,  in  this  connection,  that  this  phantom 
does  not  appear  to  have  been  seen  objectively  by  any  one, 
save,  possibly,  by  Bezuel  himself.  Others  were  present, 
who  saw  Bezuel  apparently  engaged  in  conversation  with 
some  invisible  being.  They  could  hear  Bezuel’s  words,  but 
neither  saw  nor  heard  those  of  the  phantom.  It  seems 
probable,  therefore,  that  it  was  a  case  of  telepathic  com¬ 
munion  pure  and  simple  ;  but  it  illustrates  our  point  just  as 
well  as  if  it  had  been  what  it  appeared  to  Bezuel  to  be,  — 
a  veritable  apparition,  perceptible  to  the  objective  senses. 
Moreover,  it  was  a  case  of  deferred  percipience,  —  the 
death  having  occurred  two  days  previously,  —  and  is  there¬ 
fore  more  strongly  illustrative  of  our  position,  as  will  pre¬ 
sently  be  seen. 

A  moment’s  reflection  will  show  how  impossible  it  would 
be  for  the  agent,  in  conveying  a  telepathic  message  on  a 
given  subject,  especially  in  a  case  of  deferred  percipience, 
to  do  anything  more  than  convey  the  message.  When 
the  agent  has  sent  the  message,  the  transaction  is  ended,  so 
far  as  he  is  concerned.  When  the  message  rises  above  the 
threshold  of  the  consciousness  of  the  percipient,  and  he 
begins  to  ask  questions  foreign  to  the  subject  of  the  mes¬ 
sage,  there  is  no  one  to  answer  them ;  the  agent  is  no 
longer  in  telepathic  rapport  with  him.  It  is  just  the  same 
as  if  one  should  send  a  telegram  to  another  on  a  given 
subject,  and  then  disappear.  The  recipient  of  a  message 
might  ask  all  the  questions  he  chose,  on  that  or  any  other 
subject,  but  he  could  get  no  reply,  for  the  reason  that  the 
original  sender  is  out  of  reach. 


PHANTASMS  OF  THE  DEAD. 


299 


It  might  be  possible,  if  both  the  agent  and  the  percipient 
were  in  the  i)roper  mental  condition  at  the  same  time,  for 
them  to  hold  a  general  conversation ;  but  we  know  of  no 
recorded  case  of  the  kind.  In  all  reported  cases  the  agent 
telepaths  the  message,  and  the  percipient  takes  cognizance 
of  it  by  means  of  clairaudience,  or  by  seeing  a  vision 
illustrating  it,  as  the  case  may  be,  and  that  ends  it.  The 
message  is  a  thought  of  the  agent  projected  into  the  con¬ 
sciousness  of  the  percipient  through  the  medium  of  his 
subjective  mind.  When  the  message  has  once  risen  into 
the  consciousness  of  the  percipient,  he  is  apparently  no 
longer  in  a  mental  condition  to  communicate  with  the 
agent  telepathically.  At  least,  he  never  does  so  commu¬ 
nicate,  with  the  result  of  receiving  further  information  in 
reply. 

In  the  case  under  consideration  the  agent  had  been  dead 
two  days  when  the  message  was  received  by  the  percipient. 
If  it  was  a  telepathic  message  projected  at  the  hour  of 
death  by  the  agent,  it  was  manifestly  impossible,  for  the  rea¬ 
sons  before  stated,  for  him  to  respond  to  questions  foreign 
to  the  subject  of  the  message.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
apparition  was  the  real  phantom,  or  spirit,  of  the  deceased, 
it  could  have  conveyed  any  information  desired.  The  fact 
that  it  could  not  do  so  shows  conclusively  that  said  phantom 
was  merely  the  embodied  thought  of  the  deceased,  pro¬ 
jected  at  the  supreme  moment  for  a  specific  purpose. 

M.  d’Assier  affirms  that  the  case  here  related  is  typical 
of  all  messages  delivered  by  ghosts ;  that  is,  that  they 
are  apparently  never  able  to  enter  into  a  general  dis¬ 
cussion  of  matters  outside  of  the  one  dominant  idea  which 
called  them  into  being.  The  history  of  all  phantoms,  so 
far  as  our  reading  extends,  confirms  the  statement. 

From  these  premises  two  conclusions  seem  inevitable  : 

I.  That  a  phantom,  whether  it  be  of  the  living  or  of  the 
dead,  whether  it  is  perceived  subjectively  or  objectively,  is 
not  the  subjective  entity,  or  soul,  of  the  person  it  repre¬ 
sents.  If  it  were,  it  would  necessarily  possess  all  the 
intelligence  belonging  to  that  person,  and  would,  conse- 


300 


THE  LA  W  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


quently,  be  able  and  willing  to  answer  any  and  all  questions 
propounded  by  the  percipient.  It  is  simply  impossible  to 
conceive  any  valid  reason  for  the  refusal  of  a  friend  or  rela¬ 
tive  of  the  percipient  to  answer  questions  of  vital  interest 
and  importance  to  all  mankind. 

2.  The  second  conclusion  is,  that  a  phantom,  or  ghost,  is 
nothing  more  or  less  than  an  intensified  telepathic  vision, 
its  objectivity,  power,  persistency,  and  permanence  being 
in  exact  proportion  to  the  intensity  of  the  emotion  and 
desire  which  called  it  into  being.  It  is  the  embodiment  of 
an  idea  or  thought.  It  is  endowed  with  the  intelligence 
pertaining  to  that  one  thought,  and  no  more.  Hence  the 
astonishing  limitations  of  the  intelligence  of  ghosts,  before 
noted. 

The  difference  between  a  telepathic  vision  transmitted 
from  one  living  man  to  another,  and  a  phantom,  or  ghost,  of 
a  deceased  person,  is  one  of  degree,  and  not  of  kind ;  of 
species,  but  not  of  genus.  Both  are  creations  of  the  sub¬ 
jective  mind ;  both  are  created  for  the  purpose  of  convey¬ 
ing  intelligence  to  others.  In  each  case  the  vision  ceases 
the  moment  the  object  of  its  creation  is  accomplished.  In 
telepathy  between  two  living  persons,  the  vision  is  created, 
and  the  intelligence  is  communicated  direct  to  the  percip¬ 
ient.  Its  mission  accomplished,  it  fades  away.  It  seldom 
displays  physical  power  or  becomes  perceptible  to  the  touch, 
although  there  are  exceptions  to  the  rule.  (See  the  cases 
noted  in  a  former  chapter.)  The  reasons  are  :  (i)  that  the 
emotions  and  desires  which  call  it  into  being  are  seldom  of 
great  intensity,  compared  with  the  emotions  of  a  man  dying 
by  violence;  (2)  that  the  conditions  are  not  so  favorable 
in  a  living  person,  in  normal  health,  as  they  are  in  one 
whose  objective  senses  are  being  closed  in  death ;  (3)  that 
the  object  for  which  it  was  created  being  easily  and  quickly 
accomplished,  and  there  being  no  further  reason  for  its 
existence,  it  fades  away,  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  its 
being. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  phantom  of  the  dead  is  produced 
under  the  most  favorable  conditions.  The  objective  senses 


PHANTASMS  OF  THE  DEAD. 


301 


are  being  closed  in  death.  The  emotions  attending  a  death 
by  violence  are  necessarily  of  the  most  intense  character. 
The  desire  to  acquaint  the  world  with  the  circumstances 
attending  the  tragedy  is  overwhelming.  The  message  is 
not  for  a  single  individual,  but  to  all  whom  it  may  concern. 
Hence  the  ghost  does  not  travel  from  place  to  place,  and 
show  itself  promiscuously,  but  confines  its  operations  to 
the  locality,  and  generally  to  the  room  in  which  the  death- 
scene  occurred.  There  it  will  remain,  nightly  rehearsing 
the  tragedy,  for  days  and  months  and  years,  or  until  some 
one  with  nerves  strong  enough  demands  to  know  the  object 
of  its  quest.  When  this  is  done,  tlie  information  will  be 
given,  and  then  the  phantom  will  fade  away  forever. 

We  have  supposed  two  extreme  cases,  —  one,  a  simple 
case  of  experimental  telepathy,  and  one,  of  a  death  by  vio¬ 
lence.  Between  the  two  extremes  there  is  every  variety 
of  manifestation  and  every  grade  of  power.  But  they 
are  all  governed  by  the  same  laws  and  limitations. 

That  the  posthumous  phantom  is  not  the  soul,  or  subjec¬ 
tive  entity,  of  the  deceased,  is  evidenced  by  many  other 
facts,  among  which  may  be  mentioned  the  following  :  — 

I.  It  is  not  controllable  by  suggestion.  This  is  abun¬ 
dantly  shown  by  what  has  been  said  regarding  its  persis¬ 
tency  in  following  the  one  idea  which  it  represents,  and 
ignoring  every  effort  to  obtain  information  pertaining  to 
other  matters.  This  peculiarity  characterizes  every  phan¬ 
tasm,  whether  of  the  living  or  of  the  dead.  Again,  no 
ghost  was  ever  laid  by  the  power  of  exorcism  until  the 
object  of  its  existence  was  accomplished.  Obsessing  spirits, 
so-called,  can  be  exorcised,  because  the  exorcist  is  dealing 
directly  with  the  subjective  mind  of  the  obsessed,  and 
amenability  to  control  by  suggestion  is  the  law  of  its  being. 
But  a  ghost  is  not  amen.able  to  that  law  ;  it  cannot  be 
scolded  out  of  existence  before  the  object  of  its  existence 
has  been  accomplished.  In  this,  therefore,  the  phantom 
possesses  the  characteristics  which  might  be  expected  to 
distinguish  an  embodied  thought  of  a  soul  from  the  soul 
itself. 


302  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 

2.  If  we  are  to  suppose  a  phantom  to  be  the  soul  of  the 
person  it  represents,  we  must  also  be  prepared  to  believe 
that  inanimate  things  and  animals  possess  souls.  Ghosts, 
it  will  be  remembered,  are  always  well  provided  with  wear¬ 
ing  apparel.  VVe  must  therefore  suppose  clothes  to  have 
souls,  and  that  the  soul  of  the  dead,  or  dying,  man  provides 
himself  with  an  outfit  of  the  souls  of  his  hat,  coat,  trousers, 
boots,  etc.  Moreover,  ghosts  are  frequently  seen  riding  in 
ghostly  turnouts,  comprising  horses,  carriage,  harness,  and 
all  the  paraphernalia  of  a  first-class  establishment.  Are  we 
to  suppose  that  the  souls  of  all  these  things  are  pressed  into 
the  service  of  the  nocturnal  visitant?  The  same  is  true  of 
telepathic  visions  of  all  grades  and  kinds.  In  this,  again, 
the  vision,  or  phantom,  possesses  the  characteristics  which 
one  can  easily  attribute  to  an  embodied  thought-creation, 
but  not  to  the  actual  soul  of  a  person,  living  or  dead. 

3.  Another  peculiarity  of  ghosts  is  that  they  invariably 
disappear,  never  to  return,  when  the  building  which  was  the 
scene  of  their  visitation  has  been  destroyed.  Another 
building  may  be  erected  on  the  same  spot,  but  the  ghost 
never  reappears.  There  must  be  some  valid  reason  for 
this,  for  it  is  impossible  to  attribute  to  coincidence  that 
which  so  frequently  and  invariably  happens.  It  would  seem 
to  be  but  another  limitation  of  the  power  and  intelligence 
of  the  embodied  thought.  Its  mission  seems  to  be  confined, 
not  only  to  conveying  the  one  item  of  intelligence,  but  to 
the  actual  scene  of  the  tragedy.  The  effect  of  changing 
the  physical  environment  appears  to  have  the  same  effect 
as  an  attempt  to  change  the  current  of  its  thought  by  ask¬ 
ing  a  question  foreign  to  it.  It  disappears.  Now,  it  is  im¬ 
possible  to  conceive  of  an  intelligent  entity,  in  full  posses¬ 
sion  of  all  the  faculties  and  attributes  of  a  human  soul, 
being  so  easily  diverted  from  the  pursuit  of  a  given  object. 

4.  M.  d’Assier  arrives  at  two  conclusions  regarding 
ghosts,  neither  of  which  can  afford  any  satisfaction  to  those 
who  seek,  in  their  manifestations,  for  evidence  of  a  happy 
or  a  continued  life  beyond  the  grave.  One  is  that  the  con¬ 
tinued  existence  of  the  shade  is  a  burden  too  grievous  to 


PHANTASMS  OF  THE  DEAD. 


303 


be  borne  ;  and  the  other  is  that  it  eventually  disappears  by 
atomic  dispersion,  and  loses  its  identity.  On  page  270  of 
“Posthumous  Humanity  ”  he  says  :  — 

“  Most  of  the  manifestations  by  which  the  shades  reveal 
themselves  seem  to  indicate  that  the  posthumous  existence  is  a 
burden.” 

Again,  on  page  273,  he  says  :  — 

“To  sum  up,  one  may  say  that  the  impression  left  upon  the 
mind  by  the  lamentations  and  rare  replies  of  those  shades  who 
succeed  in  making  themselves  heard  is  almost  always  a  senti¬ 
ment  of  profound  sadness.” 

On  page  274  he  has  the  following  to  say  regarding  the 
ultimate  fate  of  posthumous  man  :  — 

“  I  have  said  that  the  existence  of  the  shade  is  but  a  brief 
one.  Its  tissue  disintegrates  readily  under  the  action  of  the 
physical,  chemical,  and  atmospheric  forces  which  constantly 
assail  it,  and  it  re-enters,  molecule  by  molecule,  the  universal 
planetary  medium.  Occasionally,  however,  it  resists  these  de¬ 
structive  causes,  continuing  its  struggle  for  existence  beyond 
the  tomb.” 

M.  d’Assier  is  undoubtedly  right  regarding  his  facts, 
but  wrong  in  his  interpretation  of  those  facts,  and  conse¬ 
quently  wrong  in  his  conclusions. 

It  is  undoubtedly  true  that  the  shade  is  always  imbued 
with  a  sentiment  of  profound  sadness.  The  circumstances 
under  which  it  is  produced,  and  the  emotions  and  desires 
which  call  it  into  being,  are  necessarily  of  such  a  character 
as  to  project  a  profoundly  sad  thought.  And  this  fact  is 
another  evidence  of  its  being  an  embodied  thought,  rather 
than  a  human  soul.  If  it  were  the  latter,  it  would  be  subject 
to  varying  moods  and  emotions,  modified  by  its  environ¬ 
ment  for  the  time  being.  But,  being  an  embodied  thought, 
it  never  changes  its  attitude  or  sentiment,  but  goes  on  in 
its  predetermined  line  of  action,  regardless  of  its  surround¬ 
ings  and  utterly  oblivious  of  anything  which  may  be  said  or 
done  to  dive  it.  Truly,  “thoughts  are  things.” 


304  the  law  of  psychic  phenomena. 


Again,  M.  d’Assier  is  right  in  his  declaration  that  the 
shade  sustains  but  a  comparatively  brief  existence.  Some 
ghosts  persist  for  years,  it  is  true,  in  haunting  a  given  spot, 
but  they  all  eventually  disintegrate.  Their  capacity  for  con¬ 
tinued  existence  depends  upon  the  intensity  of  the  emo¬ 
tion  which  produces  them.  Their  actual  longevity  depends 
largely  upon  the  importance  of  the  thought  or  message 
which  they  personate.  It  depends  principally,  however, 
upon  the  successful  performance  of  its  mission.  When 
that  is  accomplished,  it  disappears  at  once  and  forever. 
As  has  already  been  pointed  out,  an  ordinary  telepathic 
message  between  two  individuals  disappears  at  once  upon 
its  successful  delivery ;  whereas  a  phantom  of  the  dead 
may  persist  in  haunting  one  spot  for  years.  It  will,  how¬ 
ever,  eventually  disintegrate  and  disappear,  even  if  its  mis¬ 
sion  has  proved  to  be  a  failure. 

If  we  are  to  consider,  as  M.  d’Assier  evidently  does,  the 
shade  of  a  deceased  person  to  be  the  soul  of  such  person, 
we  must  arrive  at  the  same  conclusion  that  he  has  reached  ; 
namely,  that  posthumous  existence  is  a  burden,  and  that  it 
is  but  a  brief  one  at  most.  According  to  his  view,  the  evi¬ 
dence  of  the  phantom  negatives  the  idea  of  a  continued 
existence  after  the  death  of  the  body.  According  to  our 
view,  it  neither  proves  nor  disproves  immortality ;  it  leaves 
that  question  just  where  it  found  it.  Like  all  so-called 
spiritual  manifestations,  it  adds  nothing  to  our  stock  of 
knowledge  of  what  is  in  store  for  us  beyond  the  grave. 
We  must  still  look  for  immortality  with  the  eye  of  faith 
alone,  relying  on  the  promises  of  the  Master. 

There  is  another  alleged  phenomenon  connected  with 
this  general  subject  which  deserves  a  passing  notice.  I 
refer  to  the  popular  belief  that  certain  houses  are  pervaded 
by  a  mental  atmosphere,  so  to  speak,  which  corresponds 
to  the  mental  condition  of  those  who  have  inhabited  it. 
There  are  many  sensitive  persons  who,  upon  moving  into 
a  strange  house  or  room,  are  influenced  apparently  by 
the  mental  attitude  of  those  who  previously  occupied  the 
premises.  This  is  especially  true  if  the  forn'^r  inhabitants 


FHA.VTASMS  OF  THE  DEAD.  305 

were  the  victims  of  any  great  sorrow  or  strong  emotion  of 
any  kind  whatever.  The  influence  is  felt  sometimes  for 
years,  and  is  frequently  of  such  a  character  and  force  as 
to  compel  the  victim  to  vacate  the  premises.  No  ghost  is 
seen  or  heard,  but  the  influence  is  felt,  and  cannot  be 
thrown  off.  Doubtless  many  such  experiences  may  be  at¬ 
tributed  to  suggestion,  —  the  person  having  been  informed 
of  some  tragic  event  which  once  happened  on  the  premises. 
But  many  cases  are  recorded  which  cannot  be  thus  ex¬ 
plained.  Cases  are  numerous  where  the  percipient  knew 
nothing  whatever  of  the  history  of  the  house  or  of  its  former 
inhabitants. 

The  phenomenon  is  explained  by  spiritists  by  referring  it 
to  the  agency  of  spirits  of  the  dead.  Others  explain  it  on 
the  theory  of  psychometry.  That  the  latter  explanation  is 
not  the  true  one  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  psychometry 
itself  is  explicable  on  the  well-known  principles  of  tele¬ 
pathy.  That  the  spirit  hypothesis  is  not  the  true  one  is 
evidenced  by  the  fact  that  the  influence  is  felt  when  there 
has  been  no  death  on  the  premises,  —  when  all  the  former 
inhabitants  of  the  house  are  still  alive.  Nor  is  the  influence 
necessarily  a  bad  one.  Thus,  a  lady  of  my  acquaintance, 
who  is  peculiarly  sensitive  to  psychic  impressions,  informs 
me  that  in  one  house,  which  she  occupied  some  years  ago, 
she  was.  seized  with  an  intense  longing  to  study  art.  She 
had  passed  the  age  at  which  people  usually  take  up  a  new 
profession,  and  she  had  never  been  particularly  interested 
in  art.  She  had  no  acquaintances  who  were  artists,  and 
there  was  nothing  in  her  environment  specially  to  attract 
her  attention  to  the  subject.  Nevertheless,  her  desire  to 
become  an  artist  grew  stronger  and  stronger,  until  she  felt 
forced  to  yield.  She  finally  employed  a  teacher,  and  even¬ 
tually  became  very  proficient.  It  was  afterwards  ascer¬ 
tained  that  the  tenant  who  occupied  the  house  before  she 
took  possession  was  an  enthusiastic  devotee  of  art.  He 
was  not  a  particularly  good  artist,  but  his  whole  soul  was 
bound  up  in  his  profession. 

The  same  lady  occupied  a  house  some  years  later  which 
20 


3o6  the  la  w  of  psychic  phenomena. 

she  felt  obliged  to  leave,  on  account  of  the  evil  influence 
which  it  seemed  to  exert  upon  her.  It  was  an  almost 
ideal  house  in  its  appointments  and  in  the  arrangement 
of  its  rooms ;  and  when  she  first  entered  it  she  was  en¬ 
thusiastic  in  her  admiration  of  it.  But  she  never  spent 
a  comfortable  day  in  that  house.  Naturally  of  a  cheerful 
and  happy  disposition,  she  became  gloomy  and  despon¬ 
dent,  without  any  apparent  cause,  and  was  at  last  forced  to 
yield  to  her  feelings  and  vacate  the  premises.  An  inquiry 
into  the  history  of  the  house  revealed  the  fact  that  it  had 
formerly  been  occupied  by  a  lady  whose  husband  had  ill- 
treated  her,  and  had  finally  deserted  her,  under  circum¬ 
stances  of  peculiar  atrocity,  to  live  with  a  mistress.  The 
history  of  that  house  from  the  time  when  the  afflicted  lady 
left  it  has  been  one  of  constant  change  of  tenants.  Other 
houses  in  the  same  row,  built  upon  the  same  plan  and 
owned  by  the  same  person,  have  no  such  history.  No 
death  has  ever  occurred  in  the  house,  either  tragic  or 
otherwise,  and  consequently  it  cannot  be  said  to  be 
haunted  in  the  ordinary  acceptation  of  the  term ;  that  is, 
by  spirits  of  the  dead. 

But  is  it  not  haunted,  nevertheless?  Is  it  not  haunted 
by  the  thoughts  engendered  from  the  mental  agony  of  that 
poor  woman  whose  life  was  blasted  by  the  perfidy  of  an 
unfaithful  husband,  —  a  man  whose  subsequent  career  was 
one  of  disgrace  and  infamy? 

I  make  these  suggestions  tentatively,  and  for  the  purpose 
of  directing  the  attention  of  those  interested  to  a  line  of 
investigation  which  should  not  be  ignored  by  students  of 
the  new  psychology.  It  is  cognate  with  the  phenomenon 
of  haunted  houses,  and  may  yet  be  found  to  be  governed 
by  the  same  laws.  If  it  is  true  that  a  visible  ghost  is  but 
an  embodied  thought  of  a  dying  man,  may  it  not  be  true 
that  any  great  emotion  can  leave  its  impress  upon  the  lo¬ 
cality  in  which  it  is  experienced?  It  may  not  be  visible  to 
the  objective  senses,  but  it  may  have  the  power  to  impress 
the  subjective  minds  of  those  who  are  brought  within  its 
environment,  and  to  create  in  them  the  same  emotions  as 


PHANTASMS  OF  THE  DEAD.  307 

those  experienced  by  the  former  occupants  of  the  premises. 
It  seems  to  be  another  form  of  telepathy,  cognate  with  the 
phantom  of  the  dead,  differing  only  in  the  strength  and 
character  of  its  manifestation.  It  may  not  be  visible,  for 
the  reason  that  the  thought  cannot  be  pictured  by  a  vision. 
It  may  be  an  abstract  thought,  idea,  or  emotion,  which  can 
be  transmitted  to  others  by  impression  only ;  or  the  emo¬ 
tion  which  created  it  may  not  have  been  strong  enough  to 
project  a  visible  phantom. 

Telepathy,  therefore,  appears  to  be  divisible  into  three 
generic  classes,  differing  principally  in  the  methods  or 
means  of  percipience,  —  the  processes  of  projection  being 
the  same  in  all. 

The  first  is  a  thought  sent  from  one  living  person  to  an¬ 
other  for  the  purpose  of  communicating  information  to  that 
one  individual.  It  is  perceived  by  that  person  only,  — 
usually  by  means  of  visions,  —  and  it  instantly  fades  away 
when  its  mission  is  accomplished. 

The  second  is  a  thought  sent  from  a  dying  person  to  the 
world  at  large  to  communicate  some  fact  of  portentous  im¬ 
port.  It  is  sometimes  made  visible  to  the  objective  senses, 
and  is  always  confined  to  one  locality,  which  it  haunts  till 
its  object  is  accomplished. 

The  third  partakes  of  the  characteristics  of  the  first  and 
second.  It  is  created  by  a  living  person,  and  is  confined 
to  one  locality.  It  is  not  sent  to  any  particular  individ¬ 
ual,  but  impresses  whoever  inhabits  the  house  or  room  it 
haunts. 

It  will  be  understood  by  the  intelligent  reader  that  these 
three  classes  are  not  separated  by  any  distinct  lines  of  de¬ 
marcation,  but  that  each  possesses  characteristics  common 
to  the  others. 

In  concluding  this  branch  of  the  subject  we  have  but 
one  further  remark  to  make  concerning  those  hypothetical 
spirits  which  are  popularly  believed  to  be  able  to  make 
themselves  visible  to  mortal  eyes.  If  it  is  true  that  the 
power  exists  in  mankind  to  create  phantoms,  to  project 
visions  which  may  become  visible  to  others,  objectively  or 


308  the  law  of  psychic  phenomena. 

subjectively,  we  have  the  logical  right  to  infer  that  all  so- 
called  spirits,  such  as  elementals,  elementaries,  et  id  genus 
omne,  are  creations  of  the  subjective  minds  of  those  who 
believe  in  their  existence. 

As  remarked  in  beginning  this  chapter,  it  is  written  ten¬ 
tatively,  hoping  to  suggest  an  enlargement  of  the  field  of 
investigation  of  the  subject  of  telepathy.  That  power  has 
been  found  to  afford  an  explanation  of  so  much  of  psychic 
phenomena  which  had  before  been  referred  to  extramun- 
dane  origin  that  it  seems  probable  that  it  may  be  capable 
of  still  further  service  in  that  direction.  The  phenomena 
of  ghosts  and  haunted  houses  seem  to  be  the  only  demon¬ 
strated  phenomena  of  which  telepathy  has  not  been  shown 
to  be  at  least  a  partial  explanation ;  and  if  it  can  be  shown 
that  ghosts  are  also  the  creations  of  subjective  power,  there 
will  be  nothing  left  for  superstition  to  fright  the  world 
withal. 


CHAPTER  XXL 

SUSPENDED  ANIMATION  AND  PREMATURE  BURUL. 

Facts  of  Startling  Import,  —  The  Case  of  Washington  Irving  Bishop. 
—  Other  Instances  of  Suspended  Animation.  —  Vampirism.  — 
Catalepsy. — East  Indian  Fakirs  buried  alive  for  Months.  —  Fun¬ 
damental  Errors.  —  Catalepsy  not  a  Disease.  —  A  Recuperative 
Agent.  —  The  I.avv  of  Suggestion  governs  the  Phenomena.  —  Sub¬ 
jective  Insensibility  impossible.  —  Suggestion  of  Death  deepens 
the  Lethargy.  —  The  Appalling  Dangers  of  Catalepsy.  —  The 
Proper  Treatment. 

There  is  another  psychic  phenomenon  which  deserves 
a  passing  notice  at  our  hands,  not  only  because  it  is 
governed  by  the  same  laws  which  have  been  discussed,  but 
because  it  is  a  matter  of  transcendent  practical  interest  and 
importance.  I  refer  to  the  subject  of  suspended  animation, 
and  consequent  premature  burial. 

I  know  of  but  one  physician  in  this  country  who  has 
given  serious  attention  to  this  subject.  Nothing  in  authori¬ 
tative  form  has  yet  appeared  from  his  pen,  but  I  am  credibly 
informed  that  he  has  collected  an  array  of  facts  of  veritable 
significance.  One  assertion  of  startling  import  is  that  in 
the  United  States  an  average  of  not  less  than  one  case 
a  week  is  discovered  and  reported.  This  statement  alone 
attests  the  importance  of  the  subject,  although  due  allow¬ 
ance  must  be  made  for  possible  exaggeration.  Be  that  as 
it  may,  the  appalling  possibility  of  premature  burial  as  a 
result  of  a  condition  so  common  as  catalepsy,  the  psychic 
aspects  of  which  are  so  little  understood  in  this  country, 
invests  the  subject  with  more  than  ordinary  interest. 


310  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


The  following  cases  have  been  personally  investigated  by 
the  writer,  and  sen'e  to  illustrate  the  dangers  which  menace 
the  cataleptic  subject.  Names  are  omitted,  at  the  request 
of  the  parties  interested. 

The  first  case  is  that  of  a  young  lady,  near  Indianapolis, 
who  came  to  life  after  fourteen  days  of  suspended  anima¬ 
tion.  Six  doctors  had  applied  the  usual  tests,  and  pro¬ 
nounced  her  dead.  Her  little  brother  clung  to  her,  against 
the  opinion  of  the  doctors  and  the  will  of  the  parents,  and 
frantically  declared  that  she  was  not  dead.  In  the  excite¬ 
ment  the  bandage  which  held  her  jaw  in  place  was  acci¬ 
dentally  pushed  aside.  The  jaw  fell,  and  the  brother  fancied 
that  he  saw  his  sister’s  tongue  moving  slowly. 

“What  do  you  want,  sister?”  cried  the  little  fellow. 

“Water,”  was  the  faint  answer  from  the  supposed  corpse. 

Water  was  administered,  the  patient  revived,  and  is  yet 
living. 

A  lady  who  is  now  at  the  head  of  one  of  the  largest 
orphan  asylums  of  a  Western  city  has  been  twice  pronounced 
dead  by  the  attending  physicians,  twice  prepared  for  the 
grave,  and  twice  resuscitated  by  her  friends.  On  the  last 
occasion  extraordinary  precautions  were  taken,  in  view  of 
her  former  experience.  All  the  tests  known  to  her  physi¬ 
cians  were  applied,  and  all  doubts  were  set  at  rest.  She 
was  a  second  time  professionally  declared  to  be  dead,  and 
the  physicians  left  the  house.  In  preparing  the  body  for 
burial  it  was  accidentally  pricked  by  a  pin.  Soon  afterwards 
it  was  discovered  that  a  small  drop  of  blood  marked  the 
spot  where  the  pin  entered.  This  once  more  roused  the 
hope  of  the  family,  and  vigorous  treatment  soon  restored 
her  to  consciousness.  She  is  living  to-day,  a  vigorous,  use¬ 
ful  woman.  It  is  proper  to  note  here  that  upon  being 
restored,  the  lady  declared  that  she  had  never  for  a  moment 
lost  consciousness,  that  she  knew  all  that  went  on  around 
her,  perfectly  comprehended  the  significance  of  all  the  tests 
which  were  applied,  but  felt  the  utmost  indifference  as  to 
the  result,  and  was  neither  surprised  nor  alarmed  when  it 
was  decided  that  she  was  dead. 


SUSPENDED  ANIMATION,  ETC.  31 1 

A  few  years  ago,  a  gentleman  of  Harrisburg,  Pa.,  appar¬ 
ently  died  after  a  long  period  of  suffering  from  inflammatory 
rheumatism,  complicated  with  heart  trouble.  Preparations 
were  made  for  the  funeral ;  but  his  wife  refused  to  allow  the 
body  to  be  packed  in  ice,  fearing  the  possibility  of  a  prema¬ 
ture  burial,  and  announced  her  determination  to  keep  it  for 
at  least  a  week.  The  next  day  her  hopes  were  realized  by 
finding  her  husband  with  his  eyes  wide  open,  and  one  of  his 
arms  out  of  the  position  in  which  it  had  been  placed.  She 
called  loudly  for  him  to  arise,  and  with  assistance  he  did  so, 
and  was  placed  in  a  chair.  Physicians  were  summoned,  but 
before  their  arrival  he  was  so  far  recovered  that  their  aid 
was  unnecessary,  and  he  soon  recovered  from  his  illness. 
He  states  that  during  the  time  of  suspended  animation  he 
was  perfectly  cognizant  of  all  that  occurred  around  him, 
heard  the  lamentations  of  the  stricken  family  and  the  prepa¬ 
rations  for  burial,  but  was  unable  to  move  a  muscle  or  utter 
a  sound. 

The  reading  public  has  not  forgotten  the  death  of  Wash¬ 
ington  Irving  Bishop,  the  celebrated  mind-reader,  which 
occurred  under  circumstances  that  called  forth  the  decla¬ 
ration  on  the  part  of  his  friends  and  relatives  that  he  was 
not  dead  before  the  surgeon’s  knife  penetrated  his  brain ; 
that  on  several  previous  occasions  he  had  been  in  a  cata¬ 
leptic  state,  resembling  death,  for  many  hours  at  a  time ; 
and  that  on  one  of  these  occasions  his  attending  physicians 
had  pronounced  him  dead.  The  public  will  not  soon  forget 
the  thrill  of  horror  which  was  felt  when  it  was  learned  with 
what  unseemly  haste  an  autopsy  was  performed  upon  that 
unfortunate  man. 

These  are  not  exceptional  cases,  nor  is  the  phenomenon 
of  modern  origin.  It  can  be  traced  back  through  all  the 
ages  of  which  there  are  records  preserved,  until  it  is  lost  in 
the  twilight  of  tradition  and  fable. 

In  all  human  probability  the  ancient  belief  in  vampirism 
had  its  origin  in  discovered  cases  of  suspended  animation. 
It  will  be  remembered  that  whenever  a  corpse  was  suspected 
of  being  a  vampire,  the  grave  was  opened  and  the  body  was 


3  1 2  THE  LA  W  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 

examined.  If  it  showed  no  signs  of  decomposition,  the  fact 
was  held  to  be  indubitable  evidence  of  guilt.  The  punish¬ 
ment  was  summary,  and  fully  as  effective  as  a  modern  au¬ 
topsy  ;  it  consisted  in  driving  a  stake  through  the  heart. 
This  simple  process  effectually  laid  the  “vampire  ghost,” 
and  it  no  longer  possessed  the  power  to  “  suck  the  blood  of 
the  living,”  and  thus  “  continue  to  live  on  in  the  grave,”  to 
use  the  language  of  an  ancient  official  document  defining 
the  characteristics  of  a  vampire. 

Revolting  and  gross  as  was  the  superstition  relating  to 
vampirism,  is  it  not  possible  that,  like  most  legendary  tales, 
it  had  a  basis  of  truth,  and  that  an  essential  part  of  that 
truth  consisted,  as  before  remarked,  of  the  fact  that  the 
cases  referred  to  were  cases  of  suspended  animation  ?  Many 
cases  are  reported  which  appear  to  be  well  authenticated, 
and  they  all  seem  to  sustain  this  theory.  One  case  (which 
was  officially  attested)  is  related,  where  the  body  of  a  man 
suspected  of  vampirism  was  exhumed  after  it  had  lain  in 
the  grave  three  weeks.  No  signs  of  decomposition  being 
visible,  a  stake  was  driven  through  the  heart,  “  upon  which,” 
says  the  report,  “  fresh  blood  gushed  from  the  mouth  and 
ears.” 

Another  case  is  mentioned  of  one  Arnold  Paul,  a  Hunga¬ 
rian,  whose  body  was  exhumed  after  it  had  been  buried  forty 
days.  “His  body,”  says  the  narrator,  “was  red ;  his  hair, 
nails,  and  beard  had  grown  again,  and  his  veins  were  replete 
with  fluid  blood.”  The  stake  was  brought  into  requisition, 
and  as  it  pierced  his  heart,  he  “  uttered  a  frightful  shriek, 
as  if  he  had  been  alive.” 

Two  erroneous  impressions  very  generally  prevail  regard¬ 
ing  catalepsy,  or  suspended  animation.  One  is  that  depriv¬ 
ing  the  subject  of  air  will  cause  death  in  a  few  hours. 
Another  is  that  catalepsy  is  a  disease,  or  is  always  the 
result  of  disease.  Both  of  these  hypotheses  are  clearly 
disproved  by  the  well-known  experiments  of  the  East  Indian 
fakirs. 

One  of  the  most  clearly  attested  instances  of  the  kind 
alluded  to  is  the  experiment  of  the  Fakir  of  Lahore,  who,  at 


SUSPENDED  ANIMATION,  ETC. 


313 


the  instance  of  Runjeet  Singh,  suffered  himself  to  be  buried 
alive  in  an  air-tight  vault  for  a  period  of  six  weeks.  This 
case  was  thoroughly  authenticated  by  Sir  Claude  Wade,  the 
then  British  Resident  at  the  court  of  Loodhiana.  The  fakir’s 
nostrils  and  ears  were  first  filled  with  wax ;  he  was  then 
placed  in  a  linen  bag,  then  deposited  in  a  wooden  box 
wl'.ich  was  securely  locked,  and  the  box  was  deposited  in  a 
brick  vault  which  was  carefully  plastered  up  with  mortar  and 
sealed  with  the  Rajah’s  seal.  A  guard  of  British  soldiers 
was  then  detailed  to  watch  the  vault  day  and  night.  At  the 
end  of  the  prescribed  time  the  vault  was  opened  in  the 
presence  of  Sir  Claude  and  Runjeet  Singh,  and  the  fiikir 
was  restored  to  consciousness. 

Lieutenant  Boileau  relates  another  instance  where  a  man 
suffered  himself  to  be  buried  for  a  period  of  ten  days  in  a 
grave  lined  with  masonry  and  covered  with  a  large  slab  of 
stone,  the  whole  strictly  guarded  day  and  night.  On  being 
restored  to  consciousness,  the  man  offered  to  submit  to 
burial  for  a  year,  if  the  lieutenant  so  desired. 

Many  other  well-authenticated  instances  are  related  by 
British  residents  in  India,  but  these  must  suffice.  In  all 
these  cases  the  subjects  were  in  perfect  health  when  the 
experiments  were  made,  and  in  each  instance  the  body, 
when  disinterred,  was  found  to  present  all  the  characteris¬ 
tics  indicating  death,  except  decomposition. 

Volumes  might  be  filled  with  well-authenticated  cases  of 
suspended  animation,  varying  in  duration  from  a  few  hours 
to  many  months ;  but  it  would  be  foreign  to  the  purpose  of 
this  chapter  to  cite  any.  Sufficient  instances  have  been 
given  to  illustrate  the  points  which  I  shall  attempt  to  make, 
as  well  as  to  show  the  intrinsic  importance  of  the  subject 
and  the  danger  to  be  apprehended  from  ignorance  of  the 
psychic  principles  involved. 

The  fundamental  error  into  which  many  physicians  have 
fallen  consists  in  the  assumption  that  catalepsy  is,  per  se,  a 
disease.  It  must  be  said,  however,  to  the  credit  of  the  pro¬ 
fession,  that  no  one  pretends  to  understand  it.  Most  medi¬ 
cal  writers  confess  that  if  it  is  a  disease,  it  is  one  of  which 


314  the  law  of  psychic  phenomena. 


the  pathology  is  but  little  understood  by  the  profession,  and 
they  aver  that  morbid  anatomy  throws  no  light  upon  it  what¬ 
ever.  In  fact,  some  well-known  writers  have  doubted  its 
existence,  and  have  attributed  the  recorded  cases  to  gross 
imposture.  It  is,  however,  generally  held  to  be  a  functional 
nerv'ous  disorder  ;  but  the  tendency  of  modern  investigation 
is  in  the  direction  of  its  psychic  aspects,  and  moral  means 
are  now  largely  employed  in  its  treatment  by  the  best 
physicians. 

The  truth  appears  to  be  that  catalepsy  is  not  a  disease  in 
any  proper  sense  of  the  word.  The  most  that  can  be  said 
is  that  it  may  be  considered  a  symptom  of  certain  diseases. 
That  is  to  say,  inasmuch  as  it  commonly  attacks  those  who 
are  suffering  from  certain  nervous  disorders,  it  might  be  said 
to  be  a  symptom  indicating  the  presence  of  such  disorders. 
But,  I  repeat,  it  is  not  a  disease  per  se  ;  and  one  prominent 
medical  authority  goes  so  far  as  to  admit  that  “  in  itself 
catalepsy  is  never  fatal.”  He  might  have  gone  further, 
and  said  that  other  diseases  are  rarely  fatal  when  catalepsy 
supervenes. 

Catalepsy  belongs  exclusively  to  the  domain  of  hypnotism. 
I  employ  this  term  in  the  broadest  significance  of  its  Greek 
radix ;  for  no  matter  how  the  condition  is  induced,  it  -is 
purely  a  sleep  of  the  objective  senses,  a  suspension  of  the 
vital  functions,  a  rest  of  all  the  vital  organs.  It  can  be 
induced  in  perfectly  healthy  persons  by  the  hypnotic  pro¬ 
cesses  on  the  one  hand,  or,  on  the  other,  it  may  supervene 
after  a  long  period  of  illness  or  nervous  exhaustion.  In 
both  cases  the  phenomenon  is  the  same ;  and  when  the 
patient  is  intelligently  treated,  the  effect  is  always  salutary. 
It  is,  in  the  highest  sense  of  the  phrase,  a  manifestation  of 
the  vis  consefvatrix  naturce  ;  it  is,  of  a  truth,  “  tired  nature’s 
sweet  restorer,  balmy  sleep.” 

Catalepsy  is  always  easily  induced  in  a  hypnotic  subject 
by  the  ordinary  processes  known  to  hypnotists,  and  the  nor¬ 
mal  condition  is  as  easily  restored.  It  is  always  refreshing 
to  the  subject,  especially  when  he  is  exhausted  by  mental  or 
physical  labor,  —  far  more  so  than  is  ordinary  sleep  of  the 


SUSPENDED  AN/MAT/ON,  ETC.  315 

same  duration.  The  same  is  true  of  the  catalepsy  which 
supervenes  after  a  long  period  of  illness  or  of  nervous 
exhaustion.  That  this  statement  is  true  of  the  first  class, 
we  have  the  testimony  of  all  who  have  been  subjects  of 
intelligent  experiment.  That  it  is  true  of  the  second  class 
also,  is  attested  by  the  fact  that  suspended  animation  is 
nearly  always  followed  by  the  recovery  of  the  patient  from 
illness.  The  cataleptic  condition  marks  the  crisis  in  many 
diseases,  especially  those  of  the  nerves.  If  the  patient 
is  properly  managed  during  that  crisis,  his  convalescence 
is  assured. 

Catalepsy  may  properly  be  divided  into  four  classes,  differ¬ 
ing  from  one  another  only  in  the  causes  which  induce  the 
condition.  The  first  is  catalepsy  from  hypnotic  suggestion  ; 
the  second,  epidemic  catalepsy;  the  third,  self-induced 
catalepsy ;  the  fourth,  catalepsy  arising  from  disease  or 
nervous  exhaustion.  Suggestion  is  the  all-potent  factor  in 
the  production  of  the  catalepsy  of  the  first  three  classes,  as 
it  is  in  the  production  of  all  other  hypnotic  phenomena. 
The  suggestion  may  come,  first,  from  an  operator  who  pur¬ 
posely  induces  the  condition  as  an  experiment.  Secondly, 
it  may  arise  from  the  patient  seeing  other  cataleptic  sub¬ 
jects.  In  such  cases,  catalepsy  may  run  through  a  whole 
school  or  a  neighborhood,  precisely  as  does  epidemic  in¬ 
sanity,  St.  Vitus’s  dance,  and  many  other  nervous  troubles. 
“  Imitation,”  or  the  disposition  to  imitate,  has  generally 
been  assigned  as  the  cause  of  such  manifestations  becoming 
epidemic  among  children.  But  this  is  a  palpable  error.  It 
arises  rather  from  the  fear  that  each  one  feels  —  the  mental 
suggestion  that  each  one  makes  —  that  he  or  she  may  be 
the  next  victim.  Thirdly,  self-induced  catalepsy  is  illus¬ 
trated  in  the  experiments  of  the  Piast  Indian  fakirs,  and 
arises  from  auto-suggestion.  In  these  cases  the  condition 
is  purely  hypnotic,  and  is  self-induced  by  simple  processes, 
well  known  to  all  who  have  made  an  intelligent  study  of 
hypnotism  as  practised  in  the  Orient. 

It  is  not,  however,  with  these  classes  that  we  have  to  deal 
in  this  chapter,  but  rather  with  cases  which  arise  from  dis- 


3i6  the  law  of  psychic  phenomena. 

ease  or  nervous  exhaustion.  In  such  cases,  suggestion  can 
hardly  be  considered  as  an  initial  cause,  although,  as  we 
shall  see  further  on,  it  is  a  potent  factor  in  deepening,  pro¬ 
longing,  and  terminating  the  condition. 

I  have  said  that  catalepsy  marks  the  crisis  in  certain  dis¬ 
eases.  It  is,  in  fact,  the  supreme  effort  of  nature  to  give 
the  exhausted  nerves  their  needed  rest.  When  this  fact  is 
once  appreciated,  and  the  patient  is  intelligently  treated  on 
its  basis,  much  needless  alarm  will  be  saved,  and  many  fatal 
errors  will  be  avoided.  The  patient  in  that  condition  is 
enjoying  absolute  rest.  All  the  vital  processes  are  practi¬ 
cally  suspended.  He  is  free  from  all  pain,  and  is  enjoying 
a  refreshing  sleep,  —  a  sleep  so  profound  that  it  may  be 
truly  likened  to  its  “  twin-brother,  death.”  The  depth  and 
duration  of  the  trance  will  depend  upon  the  necessities  of 
the  case.  That  is  to  say,  it  will  be  proportioned  to  the 
severity  of  the  patient’s  illness,  and  his  consequent  need  of 
rest  and  recuperation. 

The  primary  mistake  which  many  physicians  make  in 
managing  cataleptic  patients  consists  in  seeking,  by  heroic 
treatment,  to  hasten  restoration  to  consciousness.  No 
greater  mistake  is  possible.  If  the  attempt  is  successful, 
it  causes  a  fearful  shock  to  the  nerves,  and  the  effort  is 
thwarted  which  natfire  is  making  to  relieve  the  patient  and 
give  rest  to  his  already  overstrained  nervous  system.  If 
it  is  unsuccessful,  the  patient  is  threatened  with  the  danger 
of  being  buried  alive,  or  of  an  autopsy.  These  dangers 
are  ever  present ;  and  as  long  as  physicians  fail  to  recog¬ 
nize  the  pregnant  fact  that  an  advanced  stage  of  decom¬ 
position  is  the  only  infallible  test  of  death,  just  so  long  will 
the  human  race  be  menaced  with  the  horrors  of  premature 
burial. 

The  most  important  branch,  however,  of  the  subject  of 
catalepsy  is  that  pertaining  to  its  psychological  features.  I 
have  said  that  catalepsy  belongs  to  the  domain  of  hypno¬ 
tism.  I  mean  by  this,  not  only  that  the  phenomenon  is 
identical  with  the  condition  which  can  be  produced  by  the 
ordinary  hypnotic  processes,  but  that  the  cataleptic  patient 


SUSPENDED  AN/MAT/ON,  ETC.  317 

is  amenable  to  precisely  the  same  psychological  laws  which 
govern  the  ordinary  hypnotic  subject. 

The  two  fundamental  propositions  which  bear  upon  this 
subject  are  the  following  :  — 

First,  a  patient  in  a  case  of  suspended  animation  or  cata¬ 
lepsy,  induced  by  disease  or  nervous  exhaustion,  is  amen¬ 
able  to  control  by  suggestion  precisely  as  he  is  in  the 
ordinary  hypnotic  state. 

Second,  a  patient  in  that  condition  is  always  conscious, 
subjectively,  of  all  that  happens  around  him.  That  is  to 
say,  no  matter  how  profoundly  the  objective  senses  are 
locked  in  slumber,  the  subjective  hiculties  are  ever  alert, 
and  the  subject  recognizes,  often  with  great  acuteness, 
everything  that  goes  on  around  him.  This  fact  is  not 
always  recognized  by  hypnotists,  and  it  is  safe  to  say  that 
ignorance  of  this  one  truth  has  been  the  source  of  more 
erroneous  conclusions  regarding  the  significance  of  hypnotic 
phenomena  than  all  other  causes  combined.  Hundreds  of 
cases  are  reported  where  the  patients  noted  all  the  prepara¬ 
tions  for  burial  and  all  that  was  said  and  done,  and  yet 
were  unable  to  move  or  make  the  fact  known  that  they 
were  alive.  This  seems  to  be  the  universal  testimony, 
although  it  is  possible  that  the  patient  might  not,  in  all 
cases,  remember  what  he  had  experienced.  In  fact,  it  is 
common  for  hypnotic  subjects  to  forget  their  experiences 
during  the  sleep ;  but  that  does  not  militate  against  the  fact 
that  they  were  subjectively  conscious  at  that  time. 

The  conclusions  derivable  from  these  premises  are  as 
important  as  they  are  obvious.  The  first  and  most  vital 
is  that  when  a  patient  is  suffering  from  a  disease  which 
will  induce  catalepsy,  and  begins  to  enter  that  state,  the 
usual  remarks  and  conversation  of  those  at  the  bedside 
must  inevitably  tend  to  deepen  and  prolong  the  lethargy. 
The  patient  appears  to  be  dying.  The  friends,  by  word 
and  action,  are  conveying  the  impression  that  death  is  at 
hand.  The  physician  feels  the  pulse,  which  grows  fainter 
and  fainter,  until  it  is  no  longer  perceptible.  He  examines 
the  heart  until  its  pulsations  cease.  Finally,  he  turns  to  the 


3I8  the  law  of  psychic  phenomena. 

stricken  friends,  and  in  a  solemn  voice  announces  that  all 
is  over,  —  the  patient  is  dead.  Now,  if  it  happens  that  it 
is  merely  a  case  of  catalepsy,  or  suspended  animation,  the 
announcement  by  the  physician  that  the  patient  is  dead  is 
an  all-potent  suggestion  which  is,  and  must  inevitably  be, 
seized  upon  by  the  subject  and  carried  to  its  legitimate  con¬ 
clusion.  A  case  of  prolonged  suspension  of  animation  is  the 
inevitable  result,  as  the  laws  of  hypnotism  teach,  if  they  teach 
anything.  The  patient  actually  believes  that  he  is  dead.  The 
statement  of  this  proposition  seems  almost  ridiculous ;  but 
when  it  is  remembered  that  no  suggestion  seems  absurd  or 
incongruous  to  the  hypnotic  subject,  the  proposition  is  seen 
at  once  to  be  an  absolute  verity.  Who  has  not  dreamed  of 
being  dead?  Few,  if  any,  have  not  had  this  experience; 
and  yet  the  incongruity  of  the  two  ideas  —  of  being  dead 
and  of  calmly  reflecting  on  the  subject  —  never  strikes  the 
dreamer’s  subjective  intelligence.  Subjective  impressions 
never  seem  absurd  or  incongruous  to  the  subject.  This 
principle  runs  through  all  subjective  mental  action,  from 
the  dreams  of  the  healthy  sleeper  to  the  hallucinations  of 
the  monomaniac.  Subjective  intelligence,  be  it  remem¬ 
bered,  is  capable  of  exercising  but  one  form  of  reasoning,  — 
the  deductive.  But  it  will  reason  deductively  from  any 
premise  imparted  to  it,  by  any  form  of  suggestion,  with 
great  acumen ;  and  it  never  arrives  at  a  conclusion  in¬ 
consistent  with  the  premise,  —  that  is,  the  suggestion.  All 
the  facts  known  to  the  individual’s  objective  experience 
which  are  inconsistent  with  that  premise  stand  for  nought 
in  presence  of  the  one  ever-present  idea.  That  idea  is 
the  major  premise,  unquestioned  and  indisputable,  of  a 
syllogism  which  he  will  inevitably  complete  with  logical 
accuracy. 

It  is  easy  to  see  from  what  has  been  said  what  an  appall¬ 
ing,  ever-present  danger  menaces  the  patient  who,  from 
any  cause,  becomes  cataleptic,  especially  the  one  who  has 
reached  the  crisis  of  a  lingering  illness,  and  is  surrounded 
by  physicians  and  friends  who  are  ignorant  of  the  psycho¬ 
logical  principles  involved.  The  natural  language  of  the 


SUSPENDED  ANIMATION,  ETC.  319 

emotions  of  the  surviving  friends,  the  wail  of  hopeless  grief, 
the  administration  of  the  sacraments  of  the  Church,  and, 
finally,  the  authoritative  announcement  of  the  doctor  that 
“  He  is  dead  !  ”  all  tend  to  the  one  result.  When  to  these 
are  added  the  ice-pack  or  the  embalmer’s  fluid,  it  remains 
only  for  the  performance  of  an  autopsy  to  give  the  coup 
de  grace. 

I  shall  not  attempt  to  apply  the  principles  here  laid 
down  to  particular  cases.  Those  who  are  cognizant  of  the 
circumstances  of  any  case,  either  recorded  or  within  their 
own  private  experience,  will  easily  recognize  their  signifi¬ 
cance.  Nor  shall  I  attempt  to  prescribe  the  specific  course 
to  be  pursued  where  suspended  animation  is  suspected,  as 
that  is  the  province  of  the  physician  in  attendance  on  each 
particular  case.  My  object  will  have  been  accomplished  if 
what  I  have  said  shall  be  the  means  of  directing  the  atten¬ 
tion  of  the  medical  profession  to  the  psychic  aspects  of 
catalepsy,  and  to  a  more  careful  study  of  the  psychology  of 
that  science  which  has  suffered  so  much  at  the  hands 
of  charlatanism  on  the  one  hand,  and  prejudice  on  the 
other,  —  hypnotism. 

Nevertheless,  a  few  general  observations  regarding  the 
proper  course  to  be  pursued  may  not  seem  impertinent. 
It  is  obvious  that  when  catalepsy  is  suspected,  or  is  pos¬ 
sible,  all  allusion  to  or  suggestion  of  death  should  be 
avoided,  especially  by  the  physician  in  attendance.  It 
should  not  for  a  moment  be  forgotten  that,  however  pro¬ 
foundly  the  objective  senses  may  be  locked  in  insensibility, 
subjectively  the  patient  is  awake  and  is  taking  cognizance 
of  all  that  occurs,  and  appreciates  with  wonderful  acute¬ 
ness  the  significance  of  every  word  that  is  uttered.  It 
should  be  remembered  that  since  suggestion  can  induce 
catalepsy,  it  can  also  deepen  and  prolong  the  period  of  its 
duration.  Conversely,  it  is  the  most  potent  means  of  resto¬ 
ration.  Other  restoratives  should  rarely,  if  ever,  be  resorted 
to.  Violent  means  should  never  be  employed.  The  essen¬ 
tial  thing  is  a  cheerful,  confident  demeanor  in  all  present 
at  the  bedside.  Time  should  always  be  given  for  the 


THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMEHA. 


conservative  forces  and  recuperative  powers  of  nature  to  do 
their  legitimate  work,  and  in  due  season  the  patient,  who 
“  is  not  dead,  but  sleepeth,”  will  awake ;  or,  in  obedience 
to  suggestion,  will  “  arise  and  come  forth,”  saved  from 
the  jaws  of  death,  —  rescued  from  the  horrors  of  a  living 
grave. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

PRACTICAL  CONCLUSIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS. 

The  Normal  Relations  of  the  Objective  and  Subjective  Faculties.— 
Their  Distinctive  Powers  and  Functions.  —  The  Infinite  Wisdom 
displayed  in  their  Distribution.  —  It  constitutes  Man  a  P'ree  Moral 
Agent.  —  Limitation  of  Subjective  Powers  and  Responsibilities  in 
this  Life.  —  The  Kinship  of  the  Soul  to  God.  —  The  Limitation  of 
the  Powers  of  the  Objective  Mind.  —  The  Transcendent  Powers  of 
the  Soul.  —  Errors  of  the  Old  Philosophers.  —  The  Normal  P'unc- 
tions  of  the  Soul  in  Earthly  Life.  —  Dangers  of  Abnormal  Ex¬ 
ercise  of  Subjective  Power.  —  Nervous  Disorders,  Insanity, 
Imbecility,  and  Moral  Degradation. — The  Importance  of  a  Knowl¬ 
edge  of  the  Law  of  Suggestion.  —  Dangers  of  Mediumship. — 
Trance-speakers.  —  Immoral  Tendency  of  Ignorant  Mediumship. 
—  Tendency  towards  P’ree  Love. — The  Causes.  —  The  Oriental¬ 
ists. —  Their  Greater  Powers  and  their  Greater  Facilities  for  Self- 
delusion.  —  Practical  Conclusions.  —  Warnings. 

T  HAVE  now  presented  the  propositions  of  my  hypothe- 
sis,  together  with  a  brief  outline  showing  its  applica¬ 
bility  to  the  leading  psychic  phenomena ;  and  it  remains 
only  to  draw  a  few  practical  conclusions  which  apply  to 
every-day  life.  The  first,  and  the  most  obviously  important 
one,  relates  to  the  exercise  of  subjective  power,  and  the 
normal  relations  of  the  objective  and  subjective  faculties. 
In  order  to  do  so  clearly  and  concisely,  it  will  be  necessary 
to  recall  the  terms  of  the  hypothesis. 

The  first  proposition  is  that  the  mind  of  man  is  dual  in 
character.  This  proposition,  as  we  have  already  stated, 
has  been  more  or  less  dimly  recognized  by  many  philoso¬ 
phers  in  all  ages ;  and  during  the  present  century  it  has 
been  gradually  assuming  a  more  definite  status  in  mental 
philosophy.  Assuming,  therefore,  this  proposition  to  be 

21 


322  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA- 


true,  it  necessarily  follows  that  the  two  minds  must,  nor¬ 
mally,  bear  a  harmonious  relation  to  each  other.  It 
follows  that  one  of  the  two  minds  must,  normally,  be 
subordinated  to  the  other.  Otherwise  there  would  be  a 
conflict.  Just  here  Liebault’s  discovery  of  the  law  of  sug¬ 
gestion  comes  in,  and  shows  that  the  subjective  mind  is 
constantly  controlled  by  that  power.  It  is  true  that  Lie- 
bault  and  his  followers  have  applied  the  law  only  to  the 
elucidation  of  hypnotic  phenomena ;  and  in  that  have  not 
always  carried  it  to  its  legitimate  conclusion.  But  it  has 
seemed  to  me  that  if  the  law  is  applicable  to  one  class  of 
psychic  phenomena,  it  must  be  equally  applicable  to  all,  as 
nature’s  laws  admit  of  no  exceptions.  I  have  therefore 
declared,  as  the  second  proposition  of  my  hypothesis,  that 
the  subjective  mind  is  always  controllable  by  suggestion. 

Assuming,  therefore,  that  these  two  propositions  are  true, 
it  follows  as  a  necessary  consequence  that  there  must  be 
some  distinctive  line  of  difference  between  the  methods  of 
operation  of  the  two  minds.  It  is  obvious  that  there  is  a 
limitation  of  power  in  the  subjective  mind,  otherwise  it 
could  not  be  subordinated  to  the  objective.  Just  where 
this  line  of  distinction  could  be  drawn,  and  how  it  could  be 
formulated,  was  at  first  a  perplexing  question.  There  were 
no  authorities  on  the  subject  who  ever  hinted  at  a  possible 
limitation  of  reasoning  power  in  either  branch  of  the  dual 
mind.  On  the  contrary,  those  who  have  observed  the 
phenomena  of  subjective  mental  activity,  as  seen  in  hyp¬ 
notic  subjects,  in  trance-speakers,  and  cognate  exhibitions, 
have  been  so  profoundly  impressed  with  its  transcendent 
powers  that  it  has  seemed  impossible  that  it  could  be 
hedged  about  by  limitations.  Philosophers  from  time 
immemorial  have  recognized  its  tremendous  powers  of 
memory,  and  millions  have  sat  entranced  by  the  eloquence 
of  subjective  speakers,  and  noted  with  profound  admira¬ 
tion  their  accuracy  of  logical  deduction.  So  impressed  has 
the  world  been  by  such  exhibitions  that  the  soul  has 
been  held  up  as  the  infallible  guide  to  all  that  is  pure  and 
noble  and  good  in  humanity.  It  has  been  called  the  Ego 


PRACTICAL  CONCLUSIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS.  323 

(which  it  truly  is),  and  as  such  it  has  been  recognized  as 
the  inward  monitor,  whose  monitions  are  always  entitled  to 
reverential  consideration.  It  was  difficult,  therefore,  to 
imagine  any  line  of  distinction  between  the  two  branches 
of  the  dual  mind  which  would  place  the  subjective  in  a  sub¬ 
ordinate  position.  But  for  the  discovery  of  Li^bault’s  law 
of  suggestion  that  line  would  never  have  been  recognized- 
It  now  becomes  evident,  however,  that  the  point  of  its 
limitation  of  reasoning  power  is  the  starting-point.  It  has 
not  the  power  to  formulate  its  own  premises.  The  sub¬ 
sidiary  proposition  of  our  general  hypothesis  is,  therefore, 
that  the  subjective  mind  is  incapable  of  inductive  reasoning. 
It  will  readily  be  seen  that  it  is  a  corollary  of  the  law  of 
suggestion ;  but  the  three  propositions  together  furnish  the 
key  to  the  whole  science  of  psychology. 

I  am  aware  that  those  who  have  hitherto  regarded  the 
soul  as  possessing  all  the  intellectual  powers,  as  well  as 
all  the  moral  attributes,  will  be  shocked  when  they  realize 
that  the  object  of  their  admiration  is  hedged  about  with 
any  limitations  whatever.  The  first  question  they  will  ask  is, 
“  Why  is  it  that  God  has  given  to  man  a  soul  possessing  such 
transcendent  powers  in  certain  directions,  and  yet  under  the 
absolute  control,  in  all  its  ideas  and  intellectual  functions, 
of  a  finite,  perishable  intelligence?”  The  broad  and  com- 
])rehensive  answer  is.  To  constitute  man  a  free  moral  agent. 
It  needs  no  argument  to  show  that  if  the  soul  were  not  so 
limited  in  its  initiative  power  of  reasoning,  the  finite,  mortal 
man  could  not  be  held  responsible  for  the  moral  status  of  his 
soul.  God  gave  to  objective  man  the  powers  of  reason,  in¬ 
ductive  as  well  as  deductive,  for  the  purpose  of  enabling  him 
successfully  to  struggle  with  his  physical  environment.  He 
gave  him  the  power  to  know  the  right  from  the  wrong.  He 
gave  him  supreme  control  of  the  initial  processes  of  reason¬ 
ing,  and  thus  made  him  responsible  for  the  moral  status  of 
his  soul.  The  soul,  in  the  mean  time,  so  long  as  it  inhabits 
the  body,  is  charged  with  limited  responsibilities.  It  is  the 
life-principle  of  the  body,  and  its  normal  functions  pertain 
solely  to  the  preservation  of  human  life  and  the  perpetu- 


324  the  law  of  ■psychic  phenomena. 


ation  of  the  human  race.  It  possesses  wonderful  powers  in 
other  directions,  under  certain  abnormal  conditions  of  the 
body,  it  is  true.  But  their  exercise  outside  of  those  limits 
is  always  abnormal,  and  productive  of  untoward  results. 
Those  powers  of  which  we  catch  occasional  glimpses,  and 
which  so  excite  our  admiration,  are  powers  which  pertain 
to  its  existence  in  a  future  world.  They  are  powers  which 
proclaim  it  as  a  part  of  God,  as  partaking  of  the  nature  and 
attributes  of  the  Divine  Mind.  Its  powers  of  perception  of 
the  fixed  laws  of  nature  demonstrate  its  kinship  to  Omni¬ 
science.  It  is  independent  of  the  feeble  powers  of  induc¬ 
tive  reasoning  when  it  is  freed  from  its  earthly  trammels  •, 
and  there  is  not  one  power  or  attribute  peculiar  to  the 
finite,  objective  mind  that  could  be  of  any  service  to  the 
soul  in  its  eternal  home.  We  boast  of  our  powers  of  in¬ 
ductive  reason,  forgetting  how  little  we  have  learned,  or 
ever  can  know,  compared  with  what  there  is  to  learn.  We 
forget  that  they  are  the  outgrowth  of  our  physical  wants 
and  necessities,  and  simply  enable  us  to  grope  in  the  dark 
for  the  means  of  subsistence,  and  to  render  our  physical 
existence  tolerable.  The  powers  of  the  objective  mind, 
compared  with  those  of  the  subjective  mind,  may  be  lik¬ 
ened  to  a  man  born  in  a  cave,  in  which  the  light  of  the  sun 
never  entered,  and  supplied  only  with  a  rushlight  with 
which  to  grope  his  way  and  find  the  means  of  subsistence. 
The  light,  feeble  as  it  is,  is  invaluable  to  him ;  for  by  its 
means  he  is  enabled  gradually  to  learn  his  bearings,  to  take 
note  of  his  environment,  to  make  occasional  discoveries  of  the 
necessities  of  life,  and  finally  to  achieve  some  of  the  comforts 
of  existence.  The  more  he  discovers,  the  more  he  appreci¬ 
ates  the  value  of  his  rushlight  and  the  more  he  boasts  of  its 
transcendent  powers  of  illumination.  He  hears  vague  re¬ 
ports  of  an  outside  world  where  the  comforts  and  luxuries 
of  life  are  comparatively  easy  to  obtain,  and  he  resolves  to 
grope  his  way  out.  He  is  told  that  the  outside  world  is 
lighted  by  a  great  luminary  which  will  render  his  rushlight 
of  no  value  to  him  except  as  a  reminder  of  the  limitations 
of  his  cave-life.  But  he  is  sceptical,  and  points  with  pride 


PRACTICAL  CONCLUSIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS.  325 

to  his  accumulations  and  the  discoveries  he  has  made  with 
the  aid  of  his  “  God-given  illuminant,”  and  refuses  to  be¬ 
lieve  that  there  is  a  possible  state  of  existence  which  would 
be  tolerable  without  rushlights.  At  length  a  cataclysm  of 
nature  throws  him  upon  the  outside  world  in  the  full  blaze 
of  the  light  of  a  mitlday  sun.  He  then  finds  that  he  is  in  a 
world  of  light ;  that  he  can  perceive  things  as  they  are,  and 
observe  their  bearings  and  relations  to  each  other,  and  he 
finds  that  the  rays  of  his  rushlight  are  no  longer  visible. 
It  is  obvious  that  this  is  but  a  feeble  illustration  of  the  dif¬ 
ference  between  the  powers  of  inductive  inquiry  into  the 
laws  of  nature,  and  the  powers  of  perception  possessed  by 
the  subjective  entity.  When  the  soul  is  freed  from  its  phys¬ 
ical  trammels  it  ascends  to  its  native  realm  of  truth,  and, 
untrammelled  by  false  suggestions  arising  from  the  imperfect 
knowledge  of  the  objective  mind,  it  “  sees  God  as  he  is ;  ” 
that  is,  it  apprehends  all  his  laws,  and  imbibes  truth  from  its 
Eternal  Source. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  in  this  connection  that  the  sub¬ 
jective  mind  is  the  soul,  or  spirit,  and  is  itself  an  organized 
entity,  possessing  independent  powers  and  functions  ;  while 
the  objective  mind  is  merely  the  function  of  the  physical 
brain,  and  possesses  no  powers  whatever  independently 
of  the  physical  organization.  The  one  possesses  dynamic 
force  independently  of  the  body ;  the  other  does  not.  The 
one  is  capable  of  sustaining  an  existence  independently  of 
the  body ;  the  other  dies  with  it.  It  is  just  here  that  the 
ancient  philosophers  made  their  greatest  error ;  and  that 
error  has  been  transmitted  down  through  all  the  ages. 
They  recognized  the  dual  character  of  the  mind,  but 
saw  no  fundamental  difference  in  the  functions  of  the  two 
minds.  It  never  occurred  to  them  that  there  was,  or 
could  be,  any  limitation  of  power  in  either  that  was  not 
common  to  both.  They  recognized  man  as  a  trinity,  the 
three  elements  of  which  are  “  body,  soul,  and  spirit.”  The 
soul,  in  their  system  of  philosophy,  corresponds  to  the  ob¬ 
jective  mind,  and  the  spirit  to  the  subjective  mind.  They 
considered  only  the  functions  of  the  two  minds  as  minds, 


326  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


and  constantly  regarded  the  two  as  possessing  only  co¬ 
ordinate  powers.  Or,  if  they  regarded  them  as  entities, 
they  considered  that  while  each  was  an  entity,  it  was,  some¬ 
how,  inseparably  joined  to  the  other  in  function  and  des¬ 
tiny.  Hence,  according  to  their  philosophy,  if  one  survived 
the  death  of  the  body,  both  must  survive  it.  This  funda¬ 
mental  error  shows  itself,  in  various  forms,  in  every  system 
of  philosophy,  from  Plato  down ;  and  it  will  continue  to 
breed  confusion  and  uncertainty  in  the  human  mind  until 
the  fact  is  recognized  that  the  subjective  mind,  or  spirit,  as 
Plato  designates  it,  is  a  distinct  entity,  possessing  indepen¬ 
dent  powers  and  functions;  whereas  the  objective  mind, 
or  the  “  soul,”  of  the  ancient  philosopher,  is  merely  the 
function  of  the  physical  brain.  This  latter  proposition  is 
demonstrated  by  every  consideration  of  its  powers,  func¬ 
tions,  and  limitations.  Its  powers  wholly  depend  upon  the 
physical  condition  of  the  brain.  They  decline  as  the  body 
weakens.  They  become  deranged  and  useless  as  the  brain 
becomes  disorganized  from  physical  causes.  Its  distinctive 
functions  pertain  solely  to  physical  existence.  It  has  the 
power  of  independent  inductive  reasoning  to  compensate 
for  its  total  want  of  power  to  perceive  by  intuition.  But, 
as  I  have  already  pointed  out,  inductive  reasoning  is  merely 
a  laborious  method  of  inquiry,  and  pertains  wholly  to  our 
physical  existence.  It  would  be  as  useless  to  the  spirit  in 
an  existence  where  all  truth  is  perceived  by  intuition,  as  a 
tallow-dip  in  the  full  blaze  of  a  noonday  sun.  It  may  be 
set  down  as  a  maxim  in  spiritual  philosophy  that  there  is 
not  one  power  or  function  of  the  objective  mind  which 
distinguishes  it  from  those  of  the  subjective  entity,  that 
could  be  of  any  service  to  the  latter  when  it  is  freed  from 
its  earthly  environment. 

The  peculiar  functions  of  the  physical  brain  are  there¬ 
fore  no  more  entitled  to  be  considered  as  an  immortal 
entity,  or  as  any  necessary  part  or  function  of  an  immortal 
entity,  than  are  the  physical  functions  of  deglutition  or 
digestion,  or  the  physical  power  of  pedal  locomotion. 

It  is  not  for  man  to  question  the  wisdom  of  God  in  so 


PRACTICAL  CONCLUSIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS.  327 


ordaining  the  relations  of  the  soul  to  the  body  as  to  subor¬ 
dinate  the  eternal  to  the  perishable.  But  it  is  man’s  duty 
so  to  exercise  his  powers  of  induction  as  to  ascertain  those 
relations ;  and,  having  done  so  according  to  his  best  lights, 
so  to  order  his  conduct  as  to  do  his  whole  duty  to  himself 
and  his  Creator.  As  we  find  those  relations  exist,  the 
whole  responsibility  rests  upon  the  objective  man.  He  is 
a  free  moral  agent,  and  has  it  in  his  power  to  train  his  soul 
for  weal  or  woe,  for  this  life  and  for  eternity. 

It  is  of  the  relations  which  exist  between  objective  and 
subjective  man  in  this  life  that  I  propose  to  offer  a  few 
practical  suggestions  at  this  time.  I  have  already  shown 
that  the  normal  functions  of  the  subjective  mind  are  ap¬ 
parently  limited  to  the  preservation  of  human  life  and  the 
perpetuation  of  the  human  race.  These  functions  are 
manifested  in  what  are  known  as  instincts.  The  first  is  the 
instinct  of  self-preservation ;  the  second  is  the  instinct 
of  reproduction ;  and  the  third  pertains  to  the  preserva¬ 
tion  of  the  offspring.  In  the  last  may  be  included  the 
instinctive  desire  to  preserve  human  life  generally.  Outside 
of  these  limits  all  phenomenal  subjective  mental  activity 
•appears  to  be  abnormal.  I  say  appears  to  be  a;bnormal,  for 
the  reason  that  we  have  no  means  of  judging,  except  from 
a  consensus  of  facts.  The  facts  which  pertain  to  the  sub¬ 
ject  can  be  found  in  the  greatest  abundance  in  spirit¬ 
istic  circles,  for  the  reason  that  it  is  there  that  subjective 
activity  is  greatest  in  modern  times.  I  venture  to  say  that 
no  one  of  the  better  class  of  spiritists  will  deny  the  fact 
that  most  professional  mediums  eventually  become  physi¬ 
cal  wrecks  ;  many  are  overtaken  by  mental  derangement, 
and  some  by  a  moral  degradation  too  loathsome  to  be  de¬ 
scribed.  Few,  if  any,  escape  serious  physical  trouble.  This, 
of  itself,  is  sufficient  evidence  of  abnormality,  and  should 
serve  as  a  warning  against  the  too  frequent  exercise  of  sub¬ 
jective  power.  The  majority  of  spiritistic  mediums  are  more 
or  less  afflicted  with  nervous  disorders,  and  many  of  them 
are  hysterical  to  the  last  '  Most  of  them  complain 

of  extreme  nervous  exl  a  seance,  and  many 


328  THE  LAW  OF  TSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


require  days  to  recover  from  the  effects  of  a  prolonged 
exercise  of  subjective  power.  It  may  be  said  that  I  mis¬ 
take  the  cause  for  the  effect ;  that  is,  that  it  may  be  only 
weak  and  nervous  physical  organisms  that  are  capable  of 
exercising  subjective  power.  I  am  aware  that  the  ques¬ 
tion  is  not  free  from  difficulty,  and  that  one  is  liable  to 
fall  into  error  in  discussing  a  subject  that  is  so  little  under¬ 
stood.  The  fact  remains,  nevertheless,  that  nervous  dis¬ 
orders  and  mediumship  are  generally  associated,  and  that 
fact  alone  is  indicative  of  abnormality.  Whether  we  are 
to  regard  the  exercise  of  subjective  power  as  productive  of 
abnormal  physical  conditions,  or  are  to  suppose  that  it  re¬ 
quires  an  abnormal  physical  organism  to  produce  subjective 
phenomena,  matters  little.  The  conclusion  must  be  the 
same,  —  that  the  exercise  of  subjective  power  is  abnormal, 
and  should  be  avoided  until  more  is  known  of  the  proper 
conditions  of  its  exercise  than  has  yet  been  discovered. 

There  is  a  further  difficulty  attending  the  consideration 
of  this  subject  which  must  not  be  lost  sight  of,  and  that  is 
the  question  how  far  suggestion  may  enter  as  a  factor  in 
the  case.  It  is  well  known  that  some  mesmeric  healers 
fancy  that  “  they  take  on  the  conditions  of  the  patient,”  as 
they  phrase  it.  That  is,  they  feel  the  symptoms  which 
afflict  the  patient.  There  is  no  question  of  the  fact  that 
those  who  enter  upon  the  treatment  of  a  case  with  that  idea 
firmly  fixed  in  their  minds  will  experience  the  anticipated 
sensations,  often  to  a  marked  degree.  But  late  scientific 
experiments  disclose  the  fact  that  such  phenomena  are 
always  the  effect  of  suggestion.  The  physical  exhaustion 
which  some  healers  feel  after  the  treatment  of  a  case  is 
also  largely  due  to  suggestion.  These  effects  may  always 
be  counteracted  by  a  vigorous  auto-suggestion ;  and,  more¬ 
over,  the  same  means  may  be  effectively  employed  to  pro¬ 
duce  exactly  the  opposite  effects  upon  the  operator.  That 
is  to  say,  the  mental  healer,  by  whatever  method  he  does 
his  work,  may  always  cause  his  treatment  of  a  patient  o 
redound  to  his  own  bene  '1  as  to  that  of  the  patient, 

by  the  exercise  of  '  auto-suggestion.  It  is 


PRACTICAL  CONCLUSIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS.  329 


therefore  impossible  to  say  just  how  far  suggestion  enters 
as  a  factor  in  the  production  of  untoward  physical  results 
from  the  exercise  of  mediumistic  power.  It  is  certainly 
traditional  among  the  fraternity  that  nervous  exhaustion 
ensues  from  its  exercise,  and  the  results  are  appalling. 
How  far  the  effects  may  be  counteracted  by  intelligent 
auto-suggestion,  remains  to  be  settled  by  the  process  of 
evolution.  There  is,  however,  little  hope  of  any  change 
for  the  better  so  long  as  the  spiritistic  medium  believes 
himself  to  be  under  the  domination  of  an  extraneous  force 
which  is  beyond  his  control,  and  the  effects  of  which  he  is 
powerless  to  mitigate. 

This  phase  of  the  subject  is,  however,  of  little  importance 
compared  with  the  mental  effects  produced  by  the  too  per¬ 
sistent  exercise  of  the  subjective  faculties  in  the  production 
of  phenomena.  Again  we  must  draw  our  illustrations  from 
spiritistic  circles.  It  is  undeniable  that  the  tendency  of 
mediumship  is  to  unhinge  the  mind,  to  destroy  the  mental 
balance,  and  often  to  produce  the  worst  forms  of  insanity. 
And  it  is  noticeable  that  the  more  thoroughly  sincere  the 
medium  is  in  his  belief  in  the  genuineness  of  his  power  to 
evoke  the  spirits  of  the  dead,  the  greater  is  the  tendeney  to 
insanity.  The  reason  is  obvious.  If  he  sincerely  believes 
himself  to  be  under  the  control  of  an  extraneous  power^  he 
yields  implicit  obedience  to  that  power ;  especially  if  it 
assumes  to  be  a  superior  mentality,  as  it  generally  does. 
Instead  of  assuming  control  of  the  power,  he  allows  it  to 
control  him.  As  a  matter  of  course,  he  is  ignorant  of  the 
laws  pertaining  tq  it.  He  is  ignorant  of  the  fact  that  the 
force  which  controls  him  resides  within  himself,  and  is  not 
a  superior  being  commissioned  from  Heaven  to  convey  a 
message  from  the  Source  of  all  knowledge.  He  is  dazed 
by  its  wonderful  exhibitions  of  superior  intelligence,  is  eap- 
tivated  by  its  eloquence,  and  awed  by  its  assumption  of 
authority.  In  short,  he  knows  nothing  of  its  source,  or  the 
limitations  of  its  powers  of  reasoning.  The  result  is  that  he 
yields  implicit  obedience  to  its  guidance  in  all  things.  His 
reason  has  abdicated  its  throne  and  abandoned  its  func- 


THE  LA  JV  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


tions,  and  he  is  at  the  mercy  of  his  subjective  mind,  which, 
in  turn,  is  controlled  by  the  false  suggestions  of  his  own 
disorganized  and  subjugated  objective  intelligence.  His 
physical  degeneracy  keeps  pace  with  his  mental  decline, 
his  whole  nervous  system  is  prostrated  by  excessive  exer¬ 
cise  of  subjective  power,  and  too  frequently  the  end  is 
acute  mania  or  drivelling  imbecility. 

One  of  the  most  fascinating  and  seductive  forms  of  sub¬ 
jective  mental  activity  is  exhibited  in  trance,  or  inspira¬ 
tional,  speaking.  A  medium  of  fair  intelligence  and  some 
education,  obtained,  perhaps,  by  desultory  reading  of  spiri¬ 
tistic  and  miscellaneous  literature,  develops  himself  into  an 
inspirational  speaker.  As  a  sincere  spiritist,  he  believes 
himself  to  be  controlled  by  some  great  spirit  who  in  life 
was  celebrated  for  his  eloquence.  He  ascends  the  rostrum 
and  amazes  his  audience  by  his  wonderful  oratory,  his 
marvellous  command  of  the  resources  of  his  mind,  and, 
above  all,  by  the  clearness  and  cogency  of  his  reasoning. 
Those  who  have  known  him  before  and  are  aware  of  the 
limits  of  his  education  are  the  most  surprised  of  all,  and  no 
argument  can  convince  them  that  he  is  not  inspired  by 
some  almost  superhuman  intelligence  from  another  world. 
They  know  nothing  of  the  wonders  of  subjective  mental 
power ;  they  have  no  knowledge  of  the  perfection  of  sub¬ 
jective  memory,  which  gives  the  speaker  perfect  com¬ 
mand  of  all  he  has  ever  read,  or  of  the  logical  exactitude 
of  the  deductive  reasoning  of  the  subjective  intelligence. 
The  speaker,  on  his  part,  finds  himself  in  possession  of 
such  wonderful  powers  and  resources,  emanating,  as  he  be¬ 
lieves,  from  an  extraneous  source,  abandons  his  old  pur¬ 
suits,  and  devotes  himself  to  the  work  of  his  inspiration. 
It  is  an  easy  and  pleasurable  existence  for  the  time  being. 
He  finds  that  there  is  no  need  of  taking  thought  of  what 
he  is  to  say,  for  ideas,  and  words  vvith  which  to  clothe 
them,  flow  from  him  like  a  mountain  torrent.  He  finds 
himself  in  possession  of  knowledge  which  he  has  no  objec¬ 
tive  recollection  of  ever  having  acquired,  and  of  ideas 
which  were  foreign  to  his  objective  intelligence.  He  be- 


PRACTICAL  CONCLUSIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS.  331 


lieves,  and,  from  his  standpoint,  has  every  reason  to  believe, 
that  he  is  inspired  by  some  lofty  spirit  whose  knowledge  is 
unlimited  and  whose  resources  are  unfailing.  He  feels  that 
he  has  no  need  of  further  reading  or  study,  and  the  work 
of  objective  intellectual  labor  soon  becomes  a  drudgery. 
The  result  is  that  his  objective  intellectual  growth  soon 
comes  to  a  stand-still,  and  at  length  his  objective  intellect 
begins  to  deteriorate.  In  the  mean  time  his  subjective 
powers  may  continue  to  grow  in  brilliancy  for  a  time,  or 
at  least  they  shine  with  a  new  lustre,  as  they  are  compared 
with  the  deepening  dulness  of  his  objective  intellect.  At 
length  he  becomes  fitful,  erratic,  eccentric.  As  his  objec¬ 
tive  powers  deteriorate,  they  no  longer  have  any  semblance 
of  control  over  his  subjective  mind.  The  suggestions  which 
reason,  in  its  best  estate,  may  have  given  to  his  subjective 
mind,  as  a  starting-point  for  his  discourses,  are  no  longer 
available,  for  his  power  to  reason  is  failing.  His  friends, 
who  follow  him  from  place  to  place,  begin  to  notice  that  he 
talks  one  thing  at  one  place,  and  the  opposite  at  another. 
They  attribute  the  fact  to  the  control  of  different  spirits  at 
different  times,  and  for  a  time  they  are  consoled. ,  Even¬ 
tually  the  fact  is  forced  upon  them  that  in  his  normal,  or 
objective,  condition  he  is  growing  more  and  more  erratic, 
and  that  at  times  his  conversation  is  the  merest  drivel.  As 
in  all  the  other  forms  of  subjective  development  mentioned, 
his  physical  deterioration  keeps  pace  with  his  mental  de¬ 
cline.  In  the  mean  time  his  subjective  powers  appear  to 
deteriorate.  It  is  not  true,  in  fact,  that  his  subject  mind, 
per  se,  deteriorates,  for  that  is  impossible.  But  as  it  is 
always  controlled  by  suggestion,  it  necessarily  takes  its  cue 
from  the  suggestions  conveyed  to  it  by  the  objective  mind. 
When  that  ceases  to  develop,  the  subjective  mind  keeps  on 
in  its  old  rut,  for  the  obvious  reason  that  no  new  ideas  are 
imparted  to  it.  When  the  objective  mind  begins  to  dete¬ 
riorate,  its  suggestions  are  no  longer  coherent,  and  the 
subjective  mind  is  necessarily  incoherent  in  exact  propor¬ 
tion.  Its  deductions  from  a  false  or  imbecile  suggestion 
will  be  logically  correct ;  but,  as  a  matter  of  course,  a  false, 


332  THE  L-AW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA, 

extravagant,  or  imbecile  premise,  followed  to  its  legitimate, 
logical  conclusion,  necessarily  leads  the  mind  into  a  corre¬ 
sponding  maze  of  extravagance  and  imbecility.  It  is 
therefore  no  indication  of  a  decline  of  subjective  powers, 
but  it  is  a  demonstration  of  the  universality  of  the  law  of 
suggestion.  It  goes  without  saying  that  if  an  inspirational 
speaker  were  aware  of  the  source  of  his  power,  and  of  the 
laws  which  govern  it,  and  would  constantly  keep  it  under 
the  control  of  his  reason,  he  could  utilize  it  to  the  very 
best  advantage.  A  cultured  man  of  well-balanced  intellect 
would  then  formulate  his  own  premises  according  to  the  best 
lights  obtainable  through  the  processes  of  inductive  reason¬ 
ing,  and  “  inspiration  would  do  the  rest.”  If  his  premises 
were  correct,  the  subjective  mind  could  always  be  depended 
upon  to  deduce  the  correct  conclusions,  and  to  illustrate 
them  by  drawing  upon  the  resources  of  its  perfect  memory 
of  all  that  the  individual  has  ever  seen,  heard,  or  read 
bearing  upon  the  subject.  Such  a  man  would  be  known  as 
a  man  of  “  genius,”  in  whatever  direction  he  exercised  his 
powers.  And  just  in  proportion  to  the  natural  powers  and 
cultivation  of  his  objective  mind  and  the  extent  of  his 
objective  information  vvould  his  subjective  manifestations 
be  brilliant  and  powerful. 

I  do  not  say  that  such  an  exercise  of  subjective  power 
would  not  be  abnormal  and  productive  of  untoward  physi¬ 
cal  consequences.  Men  of  genius  in  all  ages  of  the  world 
have  unconsciously  exercised  this  pov/er.  But  men  of 
genius  the  world  over  have  been  too  often  noted  for  ab¬ 
normalities  of  character  and  conduct.  Profane  history  fur¬ 
nishes  but  one  example  where  a  man  of  genius  appears  to 
have  been  in  possession  of  objective  and  subjective  powers 
perfectly  balanced,  and  who  was  able  to  utilize  his  enor¬ 
mous  objective  advantages,  resulting  from  constant  and  in¬ 
timate  association  with  the  greatest  minds  of  his  generation, 
in  the  subjective  production  of  works  which  must  always 
stand  pre-eminent.  It  is  unnecessary  to  say  that  I  allude  to 
Shakspeare.  So  little  is  known  of  his  private  life  that  it 
is  impossible  to  judge  whether  abnormal  physical  effects 


PRACTICAL  CONCLUSIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS.  333 

resulted  from  his  labors.  But  his  works  are  full  of  internal 
evidence  that  his  subjective  powers  were  under  the  constant 
control  of  a  well-trained  and  perfectly  balanced  objective 
intellect. 

It  is  of  course  impossible  to  say  just  how  far  subjective 
power  might,  normally,  be  employed  in  the  direction  indi¬ 
cated,  in  the  absolute  dearth  of  examples  where  it  has  been 
employed  with  a  full  knowledge  of  the  laws  which  govern 
it.  But  certain  it  is  that  so  long  as  it  is  exercised  under 
the  delusion  that  it  is  an  extraneous  and  superior  power, 
over  which  the  objective  man  possesses  no  control,  just  so 
long  will  the  victim  of  the  delusion  be  subject  to  the  caprice 
of  an  irresponsible  power,  which  will  eventually  drive  him 
to  the  horrors  of  insanity  or  leave  him  in  the  darkness  of 
imbecility. 

Of  greater  importance  than  either  the  physical  or  mental 
deterioration  of  the  one  who  habitually  exercises  subjective 
power  in  the  production  of  phenomena,  is  the  moral  aspect 
of  the  question.  One  may  escape  serious  physical  conse¬ 
quences  of  mediumship,  or  he  may  succeed  in  maintaining 
a  sufficient  outward  semblance  of  mental  equilibrium  to 
keep  out  of  the  insane  asylum  ;  but  no  well-informed  spiri¬ 
tist  of  the  better  class  will  attempt  to  deny  or  weaken  the 
force  of  the  statement  that  a  mephitic  moral  atmosphere 
surrounds  the  average  spiritistic  medium.  I  do  not  assert 
by  any  means  that  all  mediums  are  immoral.  On  the  con¬ 
trary,  there  are  many  noble  men  and  pure  women  who 
habitually  exercise  mediumistic  power.  Otherwise,  the 
tendency  to  looseness  of  morals  which  characterizes  so 
many  of  them  would  be  difficult  to  account  for  on  other 
than  physiological  grounds.  Books  have  been  written  to 
account  for  this  tendency,  on  the  hypothesis  that  immorality 
is  a  consequence  of  the  nervous  derangement  which  follows 
the  practice  of  mediumship.  This  hypothesis  necessarily 
presupposes  the  invariable  connection  of  immorality  with  a 
nervous  disorder,  and  the  latter  with  mediumship.  The 
common  experience  of  mankind  may  be  invoked  to  prove 
that  there  is  no  invariable  connection  of  the  kind  existing. 


THE  LA  W  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


Another  cause  must  therefore  be  sought  for  the  too-frequenl 
association  of  immorality  with  mediumship. 

Those  who  have  followed  me  in  my  brief  analysis  of  the 
causes  which  conspire  to  bring  about  the  mental  deteriora¬ 
tion  of  the  spiritistic  medium  will  anticipate  me  in  what  I 
have  to  say  concerning  the  causes  of  the  moral  degradation 
of  the  same  class.  The  medium,  if  he  is  sincere  in  his  pro¬ 
fessions  of  belief  in  the  alleged  communication  of  spirits  of 
the  dead  through  him,  believes  himself  to  be  under  the  care 
and  control  of  a  higher  and  purer  mentality  than  his  own. 
He  believes  in  its  lofty  assumptions  of  mental  and  moral 
superiority,  and  he  becomes  accustomed  to  ask  its  advice 
in  all  things  pertaining  to  his  personal  well-being.  He 
frequently  finds  its  advice  to  be  of  the  best,  and  he  grad¬ 
ually  accustoms  himself  to  submit  to  its  guidance  in  all 
things.  He  assumes  and  believes  that  in  the  clearer  light 
of  the  world  of  spirits  many  of  the  artificialities  of  mundane 
civilization  are  held  in  pitying  contempt,  and  he  frequently 
comes  to  believe  that  many  of  the  restraints  of  human 
society  are  purely  artificial,  and  have  no  foundation  in 
true  morality  or  religion.  He  generally  regards  himself 
as  a  reformer,  having  broken  away  from  the  orthodox 
creed,  and  becomes  the  advocate  of  a  new  religion.  Like 
most  radical  reformers  who  find  the  world  all  wrong  in  one 
respect,  he  immediately  assumes  that  it  is  wrong  in  every¬ 
thing  ;  and  nothing  will  satisfy  his  ambition  short  of  de¬ 
stroying  the  whole  fabric  of  civilized  society,  and  instituting 
a  new  order  of  things  more  suited  to  his  ideas  of  human 
progress  and  felicity.  It  all  too  frequently  happens  that 
one  of  the  first  “  artificial  ”  institutions  of  society  which  be¬ 
comes  the  object  of  private  attack  by  the  spiritual  medium 
is  the  marriage  relation.  He  sees  much  domestic  infelicity 
surrounding  him,  and  is  perhaps  tired  of  the  restraints 
which  it  imposes  upon  himself,  and  he  consults  his  spirit 
guide  as  to  the  propriety  of  setting  at  defiance  the  laws  of 
human  society  in  that  regard.  Now,  if  his  “  spirit  guide  ” 
were  what  he  believed  it  to  be,  or  what  it  assumed  to  be,  — 
a  pure  and  lofty  spirit,  disenthralled  from  the  temptations 


PRACTICAL  CONCLUSIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS.  335 


and  weaknesses  of  the  flesh,  and  drawing  inspiration  from 
the  society  of  just  men  made  perfect,  —  there  could  be  no 
doubt  of  the  character  of  the  advice  it  would  give  him. 
but,  being  the  medium’s  own  subjective  entity,  bound  by 
the  laws  of  its  being  to  control  by  the  power  of  suggestion, 
it  necessarily  follows  the  line  of  thought  which  is  upper¬ 
most  in  the  medium’s  objective  mind,  and  it  gives  the  ad¬ 
vice  most  desired.  Moreover,  from  the  premises  suggested 
by  the  unhallowed  lusts  of  the  medium,  it  will  frame  an 
argument  so  plausible  and  convincing  to  his  willing  mind 
that  he  will  fancy  that,  in  following  the  advice  of  his  “  con¬ 
trol,”  he  is  obeying  the  holiest  impulses  implanted  in  his 
nature  by  a  God  of  love. 

I  do  not  charge  spiritists  as  a  class  with  being  advocates 
of  the  doctrines  of  free  love.  On  the  contrary,  I  am  aware 
that,  as  a  class,  they  hold  the  marriage  relation  in  sacred 
regard.  I  cannot  forget,  however,  that  but  a  few  years 
ago  some  of  their  leading  advocates  and  mediums  pro¬ 
claimed  the  doctrine  of  free  love  in  all  its  hideous  deform¬ 
ity  from  every  platform  in  the  land.  Nor  do  I  fail  to 
remember  that  the  better  class  of  spiritists  everywhere 
repudiated  the  doctrine  and  denounced  its  advocates  and 
exemplars.  Nevertheless,  the  moral  virus  took  effect  here 
and  there  all  over  the  country,  and  it  is  doing  its  deadly 
work  in  secret  in  many  an  otherwise  happy  home.  And  I 
charge  a  large  and  constantly  growing  class  of  professional 
mediums  with  being  the  leading  propagandists  of  the  doc¬ 
trine  of  free  love.  'I'hey  infest  every  community  in  the  land, 
and  it  is  well  known  to  all  men  and  women  who  are  dis¬ 
satisfied  or  unhappy  in  their  marriage  relations  that  they 
can  always  find  sympathy  by  consulting  the  average  medium, 
and  can,  moreover,  find  justification  for  illicit  love  by  in¬ 
voking  the  spirits  of  the  dead  through  such  mediums. 

As  before  remarked,  I  do  not  charge  mediums  as  a  class 
with  immoral  practices,  nor  do  I  say  that  the  exercise  of 
subjective  power,  per  se,  has  a  tendency  to  induce  immoral 
jiractices.  What  I  do  say  is,  that  through  a  want  of  knowl¬ 
edge  of  the  laws  which  pertain  to  subjective  mental  activity, 


336  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


the  one  who  exercises  that  power  in  the  form  of  medium- 
ship  IS  in  constant  danger  of  being  led  astray.  He  invokes 
a  power  that  he  knows  nothing  of,  —  a  power  which  may, 
at  any  time,  turn  and  rend  him. 

The  man  or  woman  whose  heart  is  pure,  in  whom  the 
principles  of  virtue  and  morality  are  innate,  is  in  no  danger 
of  being  corrupted  by  the  exercise  of  mediumistic  power. 
The  auto-suggestions  of  such  are  constantly  on  the  side  of 
virtue,  and  a  corrupt  communication  could  not  emanate 
from  such  a  source.  But  to  the  young,  whose  characters 
are  not  formed,  and  to  those  whose  notions  of  morality  are 
loose,  the  dangers  of  mediumship  are  appalling. 

I  have'  felt  obliged  to  draw  my  illustrations  from  spirit 
mediums  for  the  reason  that  mediumship  is  the  form  which 
subjective  activity  takes  in  the  Western  world.  Other  forms, 
however,  are  being  introduced  from  the  Orient,  and  may 
soon  become  common  in  this  country.  The  Western  world 
is  threatened  with  a  revival  of  the  arts  of  the  magician,  the 
conjurer,  and  the  wizard.  It  may  be  true,  and  doubtless  is, 
that  the  Eastern  adepts  know  more  of  the  practice  of  sub¬ 
jective  arts  than  is  dreamed  of  by  spiritists.  The  fact  that 
they  denounce  as  dangerous  to  health,  morals,  and  sanity 
the  practice  of  mediumship,  is  a  hopeful  sign.  That  they 
are  aware  that  the  power  which  controls  the  medium  ema¬ 
nates  from  himself,  is  demonstrative  of  their  advancement 
in  practical  knowledge  of  the  subject.  But  that  they  are 
reliable  guides  to  the  safe  exercise  of  subjective  power 
has  not  been  demonstrated.  It  is  certain  that  they  are  yet 
Ignorant  of  the  fundamental  principles  which  underlie  the 
science  of  the  soul,  for  they  have  yet  to  learn  the  law  of 
suggestion,  and  to  appreciate  the  subtle  role  which  that 
power  plays  in  every  psychic  phenomenon.  Their  whole 
system  of  spiritual  philosophy  has  been  built  up  in  igno¬ 
rance  of  that  law,  and  hence  they  are  necessarily  subject  to 
the  same  delusions,  arising  from  the  same  sources  of  error, 
that  have  misguided  all  mankind,  in  all  the  ages  of  the  world, 
prior  to  the  discovery  of  that  law.  They  believe  in  their 
power  to  communicate  with  the  spirits  of  another  world, 


PRACTICAL  CONCLUSIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS.  337 

precisely  the  same  as  do  the  modern  spiritists.  The  foun¬ 
dation  of  their  belief  is  the  same ;  namely,  psychic  phe¬ 
nomena  produced  by  themselves,  in  ignorance  of  the 
fundamental  laws  which  govern  it.  The  only  difference 
resides  in  the  fact  that  the  Orientalists  have  the  power  to 
produce  a  greater  variety  of  startling  phenomena,  and 
hence  are  in  possession  of  greater  facilities  for  deceiving 
themselves.  No  advantage,  therefore,  can  be  gained  by 
studying  their  philosophy  or  practising  their  arts,  except  as 
a  means  of  gaining  general  information  or  for  purposes  of 
scientific  experiment ;  and  the  warning  against  indulging  in 
the  indiscriminate  practice  of  mediumship  holds  good  against 
the  too  frequent  exercise  of  subjective  power  in  any  direc¬ 
tion,  or  for  any  purpose  save  that  of  scientific  investigation 
or  healing  the  sick. 

It  should  be  remembered  always  that  the  power  of  the 
subjective  entity  is  the  most  potential  force  in  nature,  and 
when  intelligently  directed  the  most  beneficent.  But,  like 
every  other  power  in  nature  misdirected,  its  destructive 
force  is  equally  potent. 

In  conclusion,  I  desire  again  to  impress  upon  the  reader 
the  absolute  necessity  of  always  holding  the  subjective  entity 
under  the  positive  domination  of  objective  reason ;  and  I 
here  repeat,  what  I  have  again  and  again  sought  to  enforce, 
that  insanity  consists  in  the  usurpation  by  the  subjective 
mind  of  the  throne  of  reason.  The  terrible  potentialities  of 
the  subjective  entity  are  as  much  to  be  feared  as  admired, 
and  no  faculty  that  it  possesses  is  more  to  be  dreaded  and 
guarded  against  than  its  awful  power  and  inexorable  exac¬ 
titude  of  logical  deduction,  when  reasoning  from  premises 
that  have  not  been  demonstrated  by  the  processes  of 
induction. 


32 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

THE  PHYSICAL  MANIFESTATIONS  AND  PHILOSOPHY  OF  CHRIST. 


The  Great  Stumbling-block,  Unbelief  in  the  Physical  History  of 
Christ.  —  Modern  Science  confirms  the  New  Testament.  —  Inter¬ 
nal  Evidence  of  the  Truth  of  the  History  of  Jesus.  —  The  Scien. 
tific  Accuracy  of  his  Statements. — The  E.xoteric  and  the  Esoteric 
Doctrines.  —  Parables.  —  Esoteric  Doctrines  Reserved  for  Modern 
Science  to  discover.  —  The  Spirit  of  Truth.  —  Jesus  the  first  to 
proclaim  the  Scientific  Truth.  —  The  Doctrine  of  Faith.  —  Healing 
the  Sick. — Natural  Law.  —  Faith  essential  then  as  now.  —  Il¬ 
lustrative  Incidents.  —  Jairus’  Daughter. — Seven  Scientific  Steps. 
—  Secrecy  enjoined.  —  Scientific  Reasons.  —  Rediscovery  of  the 
Science  of  Mental  Therapeutics  in  Modern  Times.  —  Nothing  dis¬ 
covered  that  Jesus  did  not  know.  —  Absent  Treatment.  —  The 
Power  to  heal  transmitted  to  all  Future  Generations.  —  The  Con¬ 
ditions.  —  Conclusions. 

IT  was  no  part  of  my  original  intention  in  writing  this 
book  to  enter  upon  the  discussion  of  theological  ques¬ 
tions,  or  to  speculate  upon  the  possible  condition  of  the 
soul  after  the  death  of  the  body.  Nor  shall  I,  to  any  great 
extent,  enter  upon  that  prolific  field  of  discussion  at  this 
time.  Nevertheless,  I  can  iot  refrain  from  presenting  a  few 
thoughts  which  have  forced  themselves  upon  me  concerning 
the  relation  which  the  hypothesis  under  consideration  bears 
to  the  history  and  doctrines  of  the  man  Jesus  Christ.  In 
doing  so  I  hope  to  offend  no  man’s  theology,  and  to  avoid 
the  accusation  of  seeking  to  “  open  the  secret  of  spiritual 
life  in  the  criminal  court  of  empirical  philosophy.” 

It  has  often  been  said  that  the  laws  which  enable  man 
to  perceive  spiritual  truths,  or  to  apprehend  the  relation 
which  his  spiritual  nature  bears  to  the  Christ,  cannot  be 


THE  PHYSICAL  MANIFESTATIONS  OF  CHRIST  339 


formulated  by  any  known  methods  of  finite  reasoning,  that 
spiritual  truth  must  be  approached  from  the  spiritual  side, 
and  that  it  must  be  perceived  by  the  eye  of  faith.  Never¬ 
theless,  there  are  many  who  have  never  been  able  to  attain 
that  faith  in  the  spiritual  nature  of  Christ,  for  the  reason 
that  they  persist  in  approaching  him  by  and  through 
the  finite  processes  of  reasoning.  Their  conceptions  of 
him  come  through  the  history  of  his  physical  life,  and  their 
doubts  arise  through  their  unbelief  in  the  verity  of  the 
history  of  his  physical  manifestations.  The  history  of  criti¬ 
cal  warfare  upon  Christianity  will  bear  out  the  statement 
that  this  is,  and  has  ever  been,  the  great  stumbling-block. 
The  assaults  of  scepticism  have  always  been  upon  the  man 
Christ ;  and,  being  unable  to  reconcile  the  accounts  of  his 
physical  history  and  manifestations  with  the  laws  of  nature, 
as  understood  by  his  critics,  sceptics  have  ignored  the  spir¬ 
itual  side  of  his  character,  and  ended  in  total  unbelief  in 
his  divine  attributes. 

If,  therefore,  the  discoveries  of  modern  science  can  be 
made  to  throw  any  light  upon  the  history  of  the  man  Jesus  ; 
if  they  confirm  all  that  has  been  said  of  the  physical  phe¬ 
nomena  which  characterized  his  career,  —  the  first  great 
obstacle  which  stands  in  the  way  of  the  acceptance  of  the 
essential  spiritual  doctrines  which  he  promulgated  will  be 
removed. 

If,  in  addition  to  that,  it  can  be  shown  that  the  discov¬ 
eries  of  modern  science  not  only  confirm  the  story  of  his 
physical  manifestations,  but  demonstrate  the  essential  truth 
of  the  central  idea  which  he  promulgated  concerning  man’s 
immortality,  show  the  philosophy  of  his  mission  on  earth, 
and  prove  that  he  was,  and  is,  as  a  matter  of  scientific  truth, 
the  Saviour  of  the  souls  of  men,  there  will  be  little  left  upon 
which  scepticism  can  hang  a  reasonable  doubt. 

I  undertake  to  say  that  modern  science  can  do  all  this, 
and  more. 

It  has  often  been  said  that  the  New  Testament  bears  in¬ 
ternal  evidence  of  its  own  truth.  This  is  true.  But  it  is 
not  true  in  the  sense  in  wliich  it  has  been  stated.  It  has 


340 


THE  LA  W  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA.  . 


been  said  that  such  evidence  consists  in  the  alleged  fact 
that  at  the  time  when  Christ  lived,  there  was  no  one  else 
capable  of  formulating  the  code  of  ethics  and  morals  which 
he  promulgated.  That  this  is  not  true  is  evidenced  by  the 
writings  of  many  who  preceded  him.  The  golden  rule 
itself,  which  may  be  said  to  embody  the  noblest  conception 
which  has  been  given  to  mankind  of  man’s  duty  to  his 
fellow-man,  is  found  in  the  writings  of  Confucius.  The 
code  of  ethics  found  in  the  writings  of  the  ancient  Greek 
philosophers  will  compare  favorably  with  anything  found  in 
the  New  Testament.  It  is  not  in  this,  therefore,  that  the 
internal  evidence  of  the  truth  of  the  New  Testament  is  to 
be  found. 

But  I  undertake  to  say  that  in  view  of  the  state  of 
scientific  knowledge  which  existed  at  the  time  when  Christ 
appeared  on  earth,  it  was  absolutely  impossible  that  a 
fictitious  character  could  have  been  created,  embodying 
the  salient  features  of  the  physical  history  and  character  of 
Christ,  by  any  one  of  his  day  and  generation.  The  writers 
of  the  New  Testament  must  have  had  an  original  from 
which  to  write  the  history,  draw  the  character,  and  state 
the  attributes  of  Christ.  This  is  especially  true  of  his 
physical  history  and  manifestations ;  for  no  one  but  he 
was  at  that  time  capable  of  doing  his  work  or  of  formulat¬ 
ing  with  scientific  accuracy  the  secret  and  source  of  his 
power.  Nor  was  any  one  of  his  day  capable  of  conceiving 
the  ideas  which  he  promulgated  concerning  his  spiritual 
mission  on  earth,  or  of  stating,  as  he  did,  the  exact  condi¬ 
tions  upon  which  mankind  must  depend  for  salvation  and 
immortality.  He  did  not  formulate  the  scientific  princi¬ 
ples  which  underlie  his  doctrines,  for  the  world  was  not 
ready  to  receive,  nor  capable  of  appreciating,  them  ;  he 
only  stated  the  facts.  It  has  been  left  for  the  discoveries  of 
modern  science  to  demonstrate  the  scientific  accuracy  of  his 
statements.  That  he  understood  the  principles  which  un¬ 
derlie  his  doctrines  and  constitute  the  secret  of  his  power, 
goes  without  saying;  but  his  biographers  did  not  under¬ 
stand  them,  or,  if  they  did,  they  were  as  reticent  as  he  was. 


THE  PHYSICAL  MANIFESTATIONS  OF  CHRIST.  341 

Nor  is  it  important  to  know  whether  they  were  or  were  not 
in  possession  of  that  knowledge.  The  point  is,  that  thej 
could  not  have  created  the  character  without  the  original 
to  draw  from,  and,  a  fortiori,  they  could  not  have  formu¬ 
lated  the  doctrines  which,  after  the  lapse  of  nineteen  hun¬ 
dred  years,  prove  to  be  scientifically  correct.  But  it  is 
said  that  they  were  inspired.  Leaving  out  of  consideration 
the  theological  idea  of  inspiration,  it  is  certain  that  they 
were  inspired  in  the  highest  and  best  sense  of  the  word. 
They  were  inspired  by  the  authoritative  declarations  of  the 
Master,  —  by  his  statement  of  the  great  principles  of  his 
philosophy ;  by  the  words  of  him  “  who  spake  as  never 
man  spake,” —  words  of  which  he  made  the  declaration,  that, 
“  though  heaven  and  earth  shall  pass  away,  my  words  shall 
not  pass  away.”  With  this  view  of  the  source  of  the  in¬ 
spiration  of  the  writers  of  the  New  Testament,  the  internal 
evidence  of  the  essential  truth  of  the  history  of  Jesus  Christ 
is  demonstrative. 

If  Jesus  had  formulated  the  scientific  principles  which 
pertain  to  his  doctrines  and  his  works,  and  had  taught 
them  to  his  disciples,  there  would  have  been  no  internal 
evidence  whatever  of  the  truth  of  his  history,  or  that  he 
ever  existed.  The  reason  is  obvious.  If  his  biographers 
had  been  in  possession  of  that  knowledge,  no  matter  from 
what  source  they  obtained  it,  it  would  have  been  possible 
for  them  to  create  a  fictitious  character  possessing  all  the 
powers  and  attributes  of  Christ.  A  few  years  ago  it  would 
have  been  impossible  for  the  most  lively  imagination  to 
picture  two  men,  standing  a  thousand  miles  apart,  trans¬ 
mitting  oral  messages  to  each  other  over  a  wire  stretched 
between  them.  If,  however,  a  statement  had  been  made 
by  any  one  that  he  had  seen  the  feat  performed,  the  exis¬ 
tence  of  the  telephone  to-day  would  be  demonstrative  evi¬ 
dence  of  the  truth  of  his  statement,  however  sceptical  his 
own  generation  might  have  been.  In  other  words,  the 
discoveries  of  modern  science  would  have  developed  the 
fact  that  he  spoke  the  truth.  If  it  were  known  that  the  man 
who  made  the  statement  knew  absolutely  nothing  of  the 


342  THE  LA  W  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA 

science  of  electricity,  the  internal  evidence  of  its  truth 
would  be  all  the  stronger ;  for  a  man  well  versed  in  the 
science  of  electricity  might  be  supposed  to  be  capable  of 
imagining  the  possibility  of  such  an  invention,  and  stating 
its  existence  as  a  fact.  But  a  man  ignorant  of  electrical 
laws  could  by  no  possibility  conceive  the  idea  of  the  tele¬ 
phone  ;  he  must  be  presented  with  the  concrete  fact  in 
order  to  be  able  to  state  it  intelligently. 

It  was  so  with  the  biographers  of  Jesus.  They  knew 
nothing  of  the  scientific  principles  involved  in  the  perform¬ 
ance  of  his  wonderful  works.  They  knew  only  the  facts, 
and  they  recorded  them.  He  gave  to  his  apostles  just 
enough  information  to  enable  them  to  continue  his  work. 
He  stated  the  conditions  of  success,  and  promised  the 
world  that  whosoever  complied  with  those  conditions 
should  be  able  to  do  even  greater  works  than  he  had  done. 
He  formulated  the  doctrine  of  immortality,  and  stated  the 
conditions  of  its  attainment.  His  biographers  have  re¬ 
corded  his  words,  but  not  his  reasons,  for  he  gave  none. 
If,  therefore,  science  demonstrates  that  the  powers  that  he 
possessed  are  possible,  that  the  conditions  of  their  exercise  are 
precisely  what  he  declared  them  to  be,  and  that  they  cannot 
be  exercised  without  a  strict  compliance  with  those  condi¬ 
tions,  the  internal  evidence  for  the  truth  of  his  history  is 
overwhelming.  Modified  by  the  nature  of  the  subject,  and 
of  the  proofs  required,  the  same  may  be  said  of  his  spiritual 
doctrines. 

His  practical  wisdom  is  nowhere  shown  more  conspicu¬ 
ously  than  in  his  reticence.  He  had  two  very  important 
reasons  for  withholding  a  full  disclosure  of  the  underlying 
principles  of  his  philosophy,  or  of  the  laws  which  pertain  to 
his  physical  manifestations.  The  first  was  that  the  world 
was  not  ready  to  receive  the  whole  truth.  This  was  said  to 
his  disciples  during  his  last  interview  with  them  previous  to 
his  crucifixion.  “  I  have  yet  many  things  to  say  unto  you, 
but  ye  cannot  bear  them  now.”  He  had  given  to  his  fol¬ 
lowers  all  that  it  was  expedient  to  give  in  that  age.  He  had 
told  them  the  conditions  of  salvation.  He  had  taught  them 


THE  PHYSICAL  MANIFESTATIONS  OF  CHRIST, 


how  to  heal  the  sick.  He  had  taught  them  how  to  employ 
their  powers  in  doing  good,  both  physically  and  spiritually. 
But  he  knew  that  the  same  power  which  he  taught  them 
how  to  use  for  the  physical  benefit  of  mankind  might  also, 
in  the  hands  of  wicked  men,  be  employed  for  doing  evil. 
He  knew  that  the  condition  of  its  exercise  for  evil  purposes 
was  a  full  knowledge  of  the  laws  which  pertain  to  it.  He 
knew  that  in  the  hands  of  the  majority  of  the  men  of  his 
day  and  generation  it  was  a  dangerous  power,  —  too  dan¬ 
gerous  to  be  intrusted  to  the  world  in  its  then  stage  of  pub¬ 
lic  and  private  virtue,  morality,  religion,  and  enlightenment. 

There  was  an  exoteric  doctrine  which  he  promulgated  to 
the  world,  and  an  esoteric  doctrine  which  he  deemed  it 
inexpedient  to  divulge  before  the  world  was  prepared  to 
receive  it.  His  whole  career  illustrates  this  important 
fact. 

His  habit  of  speaking  to  the  multitude  in  parables,  to¬ 
gether  with  his  reasons  for  so  doing,  constitutes  the  strong¬ 
est  evidence  of  his  determination  to  conceal  his  esoteric 
doctrines  from  the  common  people. 

“  And  the  disciples  came,  and  said  unto  him.  Why  speakest 
thou  unto  them  in  parables  ? 

“  He  answered  and  said  unto  them.  Because  it  is  given  unto 
you  to  know  the  mysteries  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  but  to 
them  it  is  not  given.  .  .  . 

“  Therefore  speak  I  to  them  in  parables :  because  they 
seeing  see  not;  and  hearing  they  hear  not,  neither  do  they 
understand.  .  .  . 

“For  this  people’s  heart  is  waxed  gross,  and  their  ears  are 
dull  of  hearing,  and  their  eyes  they  have  closed.  .  .  . 

“  All  these  things  spake  Jesus  unto  the  multitude  in  parables ; 
and  without  a  parable  spake  he  not  unto  them: 

“  That  it  might  be  fulfilled  which  was  spoken  by  the  prophet, 
saying,  I  will  open  my  mouth  in  parables;  I  will  utter  things 
which  have  been  kept  secret  from  the  foundation  of  the 
world.”  1 

These  passages  make  it  as  clear  as  words  can  formulate  a 
proposition  that  he  deemed  it  inexpedient  to  divulge  to 

^  Matthew  xiii.  lo,  ii,  13,  15,  34,  35 


344  the  la  fV  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


the  people  anything  more  than  they  could  understand  and 
assimilate.  His  estimate  of  men  and  his  knowledge  of 
their  needs  were  perfect ;  and  he  gave  to  each  class  with 
whom  he  had  to  deal,  just  what  was  necessary  to  enable  it 
to  perform  the  work  assigned  to  it.  He  taught  the  multi¬ 
tude  the  principles  of  morality  and  justice  among  men,  and 
pointed  the  way  to  eternal  life  j  but  he  did  not  teach  them 
how  to  heal  the  sick.  He  taught  his  chosen  ones  the  true 
method  of  healing  the  sick,  and  divulged  the  exact  conditions 
of  its  exercise  ;  but  he  did  not  teach  them  the  scientific  prin¬ 
ciples  upon  which  his  system  of  healing  was  founded.  They 
were  no  more  capable  of  understanding  those  principles 
than  were  the  multitude  capable  of  acquiring  the  power  to 
heal  the  sick.  He  gave  to  each  according  to  his  needs ; 
and,  true  to  his  spiritual  mission,  Christ  enjoined  upon  all 
men  the  necessity  of  first  seeking  the  kingdom  of  heaven, 
when  all  other  needful  things  would  be  added  unto  them. 
It  was  not  necessary  for  his  disciples  to  know  the  esoteric 
science  of  healing,  in  order  to  enable  them  to  heal  the  sick, 
any  more  than  it  is  for  us  to-day.  We  may  know  how  little 
the  knowledge  of  true  scientific  principles  involved  in  the 
exercise  of  that  power  has  to  do  with  success  in  healing, 
when  we  observe  the  diversity  of  views  entertained  on  the 
subject  by  the  successful  healers  of  modern  times.  Christ 
gave  to  the  world  all  the  knowledge  necessary  for  the  suc¬ 
cessful  exercise  of  that  power  in  the  one  word  faith.  He 
was  the  first  who  taught  that  lesson  to  mankind ;  and  it 
holds  as  good  to-day  as  it  did  when  he  first  proclaimed  it 
to  the  multitude  upon  the  banks  of  the  Jordan. 

The  second  reason  for  withholding  a  statement  of  the 
scientific  principles  involved  in  his  manifestations  of  power 
and  his  spiritual  philosophy  was  that  he  foresaw  the  time 
approaching  when  the  world  would  reason  it  out  for  itself ; 
and  that  when  that  time  came,  mankind  would  be  prepared 
to  receive  it.  He  foresaw  that  in  the  progress  of  civiliza¬ 
tion  and  enlightenment  the  time  would  surely  come  when 
the  world  would  not  be  content  to  rest  its  belief  upon  the 
doctrine  of  any  one,  whatever  his  claims  to  inspiration  or 


THE  PHYSICAL  MANIFESTATIONS  OF  CHRIST.  345 

authority.  In  other  words,  he  foresaw  the  present  age  of 
materialism,  and  its  tendency  towards  scepticism  regard¬ 
ing  everything  which  cannot  be  scientifically  demonstrated 
by  the  inductive  processes  of  reasoning.  He  knew  that 
when  that  epoch  should  have  arrived  in  the  history  of  man’s 
intellectual  development,  the  truth  of  his  doctrines  would 
be  all  the  more  forcibly  impressed  upon  mankind  if  thej 
could  be  proved  by  the  inexorable  rules  of  logic.  BesideSj, 
science  and  inductive  reasoning  would  have  been  lost  upon 
the  people  with  whom  he  had  to  deal.  That  he  fully  realized 
this  is  shown  by  his  implied  rebuke  to  the  nobleman  of  Ca¬ 
pernaum,  when  he  exclaimed,  “  Except  ye  see  signs  and 
wonders,  ye  will  not  believe.”  To  have  attempted  to  reason 
with  them  would  have  been  like  “  casting  pearls  before 
swine.”  He  appealed  to  them  by  the  only  logic  they  could 
understand.  He  offered  to  them  the  only  evidence  they 
could  appreciate,  —  the  evidence  of  their  senses. 

That  Christ  foresaw  the  time  when  the  world  would  be  in 
possession  of  indubitable  evidence  of  the  truth  concerning 
him,  but  that  he  knew  that  the  time  had  not  yet  come,  is 
clearly  shown  by  his  remarks  to  his  disciples  in  his  memo¬ 
rable  interview  with  them  just  previous  to  his  crucifixion  : 

“  I  have  yet  many  things  to  say  unto  you,  but  ye  cannot  bear 
them  now.”  ^ 

This  refers  to  the  then  existing  conditions.  He  had 
given  them  all  the  proofs  that  they  were  capable  of  appre¬ 
ciating  of  the  truth  of  his  doctrines.  In  the  next  sentence 
he  refers  to  the  time  to  come,  when  still  more  evidence 
would  be  given  to  the  world. 

“  Howbeit  when  he,  the  Spirit  of  truth,  is  come,  he  will  guide 
you  into  all  truth.”  ^ 

This  clearly  refers  to  the  time,  which  was  yet  to  come, 
when  mankind  should  seek  the  truth  and  demand  to  know 
it.  The  “  Spirit  of  truth  ”  is  a  personification  of  that  spirit 
in  man  which  seeks  to'  learn  the  truth  for  its  own  sake,  by 

^  John  xvi.  12. 


*  John  xvi.  13. 


346  THE  LA  /r  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 

the  only  process  known  to  this  world,  —  inductive  reasoning. 
That  day  has  come.  The  Spirit  of  truth  is  abroad  through¬ 
out  all  the  civilized  world,  and  it  demands  reasons  for  the 
faith  that  is  in  the  Christian  Church. 

Again  Christ  said  :  — 

“  But  when  the  Comforter  is  come,  whom  I  will  send  unto 
you  from  the  Father,  even  the  Spirit  of  truth,  which  proceedeth 
from  the  F ather,  he  shall  testify  of  me : 

“  And  ye  shall  also  bear  witness,  because  ye  have  been  with 
me  from  the  beginning.”  ‘ 

The  first  verse  above  quoted  has  the  same  meaning  as 
this  last  quotation.  The  second  refers  to  the  events  of  his 
life  of  which  they  were  witnesses.  He  foresaw  that  the 
record  of  those  events  would  be  read  by  future  generations, 
and  compared  with  later  experiments.  He  had  left  the 
power  to  heal  as  a  heritage  to  all  who  should  come  after 
him,  possessing  the  requisite  faith ;  and  he  knew  that  the 
testimony  of  his  disciples  concerning  the  works  that  he  had 
performed  would  be  compared  with  later  exhibitions  of 
the  same  power.  He  foresaw  that  the  “  Spirit  of  truth  ” 
would  eventually  discover  the  laws  pertaining  to  his  doc¬ 
trines  and  his  works,  and  that  a  comparison  of  the  testi¬ 
mony  of  his  followers  with  the  discoveries  of  science  would 
demonstrate  to  the  world  the  essential  truth  of  his  history 
and  of  his  spiritual  philosophy. 

I  shall  now  briefly  point  out  a  few  of  the  more  sali¬ 
ent  features  of  the  history  of  Jesus  which  bear  upon  the 
subject  under  consideration,  and  shall  undertake  to  show, 
first,  how  the  discoveries  of  modern  science  confirm  the 
accounts  of  his  physical  manifestations ;  and  secondly, 
how  they  confirm  the  essential  features  of  his  spiritual 
philosophy. 

The  prominent  feature  of  his  physical  manifestations 
consisted  in  healing  the  sick ;  and  in  the  discussion  of  the 
first  division  of  the  subject  I  shall  confine  myself  to  the 
consideration  of  that  part  of  his  career. 


John  XV.  26,  27. 


THE  PHYSICAL  MANIFESTATIONS  OF  CHRIST.  347 


The  first  proposition  bearing  upon  the  subject  is,  that 
Jesus  Christ  was  the  first  who  correctly  formulated  the 
exact  conditions  necessary  and  indispensable  to  the  exercise 
of  the  power  to  heal  the  sick  by  psychic  methods. 

The  second  proposition  is,  that  the  conditions  which  he 
declared  to  be  necessary  to  enable  him  to  exercise  that 
power  are  the  same  conditions  which  are  indispensable 
to-day. 

These  propositions  will  be  considered  together. 

The  condition  which  he  declared  to  be  essential,  not  only 
in  the  patient,  but  in  the  healer,  is  embraced  in  the  one 
word  faith.  That  word,  more  than  any  other,  expresses 
the  whole  law  of  human  felicity  and  power  in  this  world, 
and  of  salvation  in  the  world  to  come.  It  is  that  attri¬ 
bute  of  mind  which  elevates  man  above  the  level  of  the 
brute,  and  gives  him  dominion  over  all  the  physical  world. 
It  is  the  essential  element  of  success  in  every  field  of 
•  human  endeavor.  It  constitutes  the  power  of  the  human 
soul.  When  Jesus  of  Nazareth  proclaimed  its  potency  from 
the  hill-tops  of  Palestine  he  gave  to  mankind  the  key  to 
health  and  to  heaven,  and  earned  the  title  of  Saviour  of 
the  World. 

It  would  seem  to  be  a  work  of  supererogation  to  cite  par¬ 
ticular  passages  of  the  Scriptures  or  to  employ  argument  to 
prove  the  correctness  of  the  proposition  that  Jesus  con¬ 
sidered  faith  in  the  patient  a  necessary  condition  of  his 
recovery.  The  proposition  is  plainly  true,  and  it  has  been 
so  understood  by  all  intelligent  readers  of  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment  until  very  recent  times.  There  are  those,  however, 
who  now  seem  to  fear  that  Jesus  will  be  robbed  of  his 
glory,  and  reduced  to  the  common  level  of  mankind,  if  it 
is  shown  that  the  conditions  necessary  to  the  success  of 
the  mental  healer  of  to-day  are  the  same  as  they  were  nine¬ 
teen  hundred  years  ago.  In  other  words,  they  endeavor  to 
show  that  Jesus  did  not  operate  in  harmony  with  the  laws 
which  he  proclaimed,  but  independently  and  in  defiance 
of  the  very  principles  of  nature  which  it  was  his  mission  to 
illustrate  and  expound.  He  did  not  pretend  to  establish 


348  THE  LA  W  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 

any  new  law  of  nature,  but  to  teach  mankind  that  which 
had  been  in  existence  from  the  beginning,  to  illustrate  it  in 
his  life,  and  to  sanction  it  by  his  death.  He  did  not  teach 
his  disciples  the  principles  and  laws  involved  in  healing  the 
sick,  and  at  the  same  time  violate  himself.  He  taught 
them  his  methods  of  healing,  and  sent  them  into  the  world 
to  imitate  his  example.  When  they  failed,  as  they  occa¬ 
sionally  did  fail,  he  reproved  them  for  neglecting  his  teach¬ 
ings,  and  upbraided  them  for  their  want  of  faith.  When 
the  lunatic  was  brought  to  him,  and  he  was  told  that  his 
disciples  had  failed  to  cast  out  the  devil  which  afflicted 
the  patient,  Jesus  exclaimed  :  “  O  faithless  and  perverse 
generation,  how  long  shall  I  be  with  you?  how  long  shall 
I  suffer  you?”  After  he  had  cast  out  the  devil,  the  dis¬ 
ciples  asked  him  why  they  could  not^ast  him  out. 

“  And  Jesus  said  unto  them,  Because  of  your  unbelief :  for 
verily  I  say  unto  you,  If  ye  have  faith  as  a  grain  of  mustard 
seed,  ye  shall  say  unto  this  mountain,  Remove  hence  to  yonder 
place;  and  it  shall  remove;  and  nothing  shall  be  impossible 
unto  you.”  ^ 

His  expression  concerning  their  power  to  remove  moun¬ 
tains  doubtless  had  reference  to  the  fact  that  ponderable 
bodies  can  be  moved  by  subjective  power,  under  proper  con¬ 
ditions,  as  has  been  frequently  demonstrated  in  later  times. 

Many  passages  might  be  quoted  illustrating  the  propo¬ 
sition  that  faith  was  a  necessary  condition  in  the  minds 
of  the  apostolic  healers ;  but  it  is  believed  that  no  one  will 
gainsay  the  proposition.  It  may  be  said,  however,  that 
Jesus  did  not  require  faith  in  himself  to  enable  him  to  heal 
the  sick,  —  that  he  healed  independently  of  that  law.  The 
obvious  answer  is  that  he  had  that  knowledge  of  his  power 
which  transcended  faith ;  or  rather,  that  he  had  the  faith 
which  came  from  knowledge  of  that  power.  In  the  sense 
that  faith  ceases  where  knowledge  begins,  he  may  be  said 
not  to  have  had  faith.  His  disciples  arrived  at  that  point 
after  an  experimental  demonstration  of  their  power;  and 


*  Matthew  xvil  20. 


THE  PHYSICAL  MANIFESTATIONS  OF  CHRIST.  349 

SO  may  we  all  do  likewise.  As  I  have  shown  in  a  former 
chapter,  subjective  faith  may  be  acquired  in  direct  con¬ 
tradiction  to  objective  faith  or  belief ;  but  after  an  experi¬ 
mental  demonstration  of  the  power  of  subjective  faith, 
objective  belief  no  longer  sets  up  an  auto-suggestion  against 
it.  It  then  becomes  knowledge,  and  in  that  sense  it  ceases 
to  be  faith.  Nevertheless,  in  the  sense  in  which  it  is  said 
that  the  healer  must  have  faith  to  enable  him  to  heal  the 
sick,  he  has  faith.  In  that  sense  it  cannot  be  disputed  that 
Jesus  had  faith  in  his  power  to  heal  the  sick.  It  is  thought, 
therefore,  that  enough  has  been  said  to  demonstrate  the 
proposition  that  faith  was  a  requisite  element  in  the  healers 
of  Jesus’  time.  Certainly  no  one  will  dispute  the  proposi¬ 
tion  that  it  is  necessary  in  the  psychic  healers  of  to-day. 
We  may  consider,  therefore,  that  two  points  in  our  argument 
are  established,  —  namely  ( i ) ,  that  the  conditions  requisite 
in  psychic  healers  of  this  day  are  identical  with  those  re¬ 
quired  in  apostolic  times;  and  fa)  that  Jesus  was  the  first 
to  proclaim  the  principle  and  to  exemplify  it  in  his  works. 
The  difference  is  not  in  principle,  but  in  degree  of  power. 

It  is  said,  however,  that  Jesus  did  not  require  faith  in 
those  whom  he  healed.  The  first  answer  to  this  proposi¬ 
tion  is  that  there  is  nothing  in  his  recorded  words  to  war¬ 
rant  the  statement.  He  never  professed  to  be  able  to  heal 
independently  of  that  condition.  On  the  contrary,  all  his 
expressions- on  that  subject  lead  to  the  inevitable  conclu¬ 
sion  that  faith  was  a  necessary  condition  of  the  patient’s 
mind  to  enable  him  to  effect  a  cure.  It  may  be  true  that 
jn  some  cases  he  said  nothing  about  it  ;  but  this  is  only 
negative  evidence,  and  of  the  weakest  kind,  in  view  of  what 
he  did  say  on  the  numerous  occasions  when  circumstances 
required  an  utterance  on  the  subject. 

A  striking  instance  of  healing,  and  a  fair  example  of  his 
utterances  on  this  subject,  is  recorded  in  Matthew  ix.  28, 
29,  30  :  — - 

“  And  when  he  was  come  into  the  house,  the  blind  men  came 
to  him :  and  Jesus  saith  unto  them.  Believe  ye  that  I  am  able 
to  do  this?  They  said  unto  him.  Yea,  Lord. 


350  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 

“  Then  he  touched  their  eyes,  saying,  According  to  your  faith 
be  it  unto  you. 

“  And  their  eyes  were  opened.” 

Jesus  was  not  in  the  habit  of  uttering  idle  words,  or 
words  without  significance.  In  all  history  there  is  not  an 
example  recorded  of  a  man  whose  reticence  was  so  marked. 
Every  word  he  uttered  conveyed  some  important  lesson  to 
humanity.  It  does  not  seem  probable  that  he  would  ques¬ 
tion  those  poor  blind  men  regarding  their  faith  in  his  power, 
unless  their  faith  was  an  important  factor  in  the  case. 

The  case  of  the  ten  lepers  of  Samaria  and  Galilee  has 
been  cited  as  an  instance  of  his  healing  in  the  absence  of 
faith  on  the  part  of  the  patients  :  — 

“  And  as  he  entered  into  a  certain  village,  there  met  him  ten 
men  that  were  lepers,  which  stood  afar  off ; 

“And  they  lifted  up  their  voices,  and  said,  Jesus,  Master, 
have  mercy  on  us. 

“  And  when  he  saw  them,  he  said  unto  them.  Go  show  your¬ 
selves  unto  the  priests.  And  it  came  to  pass,  that,  as  they  went, 
they  were  cleansed. 

“  And  one  of  them,  when  he  saw  that  he  was  healed,  turned 
back,  and  with  a  loud  voice  glorified  God, 

“  And  fell  down  on  his  face  at  his  feet,  giving  him  thanks : 
and  he  was  a  Samaritan. 

“And  Jesus  answering  said.  Were  there  not  ten  cleansed? 
but  where  are  the  nine  ? 

“  There  are  not  found  that  returned  to  give  glory  to  God, 
save  this  stranger. 

“  And  he  said  unto  him.  Arise,  go  thy  way :  thy  faith  hath 
made  thee  whole.”  ^ 

It  has  been  said  that  this  passage  shows  that  nine  out  of 
the  ten  were  healed  without  the  exercise  of  faith  on  their 
part,  because  he  said  to  but  one  of  them,  “  Thy  faith  hath 
made  thee  whole.”  The  obvious  answer  to  this  is  that  he 
had  no  opportunity  to  say  it  to  the  rest.  1  here  was  but 
one  of  the  ten  who  exhibited  sufficient  gratitude  to  return 
and  give  thanks  for  what  had  been  done  for  him.  That  the 
rest  were  healed  in  the  same  way  is  obvious.  That  they 


1  Luke  xvii.  12-19. 


THE  PHYSICAL  MANIFESTATIONS  OF  CHRIST.  35  I 


all  had  faith  in  his  power  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that 
they  cried  to  him  from  afar  off,  “Jesus,  Master,  have  mercy 
on  us.”  I  submit  that  that  is  not  the  language  of  doubt. 

Again,  it  has  been  said  that  in  the  cases  where  he  raised 
from  the  dead  there  could  have  been  no  faith  on  the  part 
of  the  dead.  This  is  by  all  odds  the  strongest  case  that 
could  be  cited  in  support  of  the  theory  that  faith  was  not 
required.  But  the  objection  instantly  vanishes  when  we 
remember  that  it  is  the  faith  of  the  subjective  mind,  or  the 
soul,  that  is  required  ;  and  that  the  belief  of  the  objective 
mind  has  only  a  limited  control,  governed  by  circumstances.^ 
When  Jesus  raised  a  person  from  the  dead,  the  conditions 
were,  in  one  sense  of  the  word,  the  best  possible  to  enable 
him  to  obtain  complete  mastery  of  the  soul  of  the  deceased 
by  the  power  of  suggestion.  The  objective  senses  were 
in  complete  abeyance,  the  body  was  dead ;  consequently, 
there  was  no  objective  auto-suggestion  of  doubt  possible. 
The  soul,  in  obedience  to  the  universal  law,  was  amenable 
to  control  by  the  mysterious  power  of  suggestion.  Jesus, 
possessing  more  subjective  power  than  any  one  who  has 
ever  lived,  commanded  the  soul  of  the  deceased  to  return 
to  its  earthly  tenement.  He  may  not  have  employed  ob¬ 
jective  language  when  he  issued  his  command,  but  his 
soul,  in  perfect  telepathic  communion  with  that  of  the  de¬ 
ceased,  and  dominating  it  as  only  he  could  dominate  the 
souls  of  men,  issued  his  mental  mandate  to  the  departing 
soul  to  return  to  the  body  and  resume  its  functions.  That 
command  it  must  obey,  and  it  did  obey.  'Fhere  was  no 
law  of  nature  violated  or  transcended.  On  the  contrary, 
the  whole  transaction  was  in  perfect  obedience  to  the  laws 
of  nature.  He  understood  the  law  perfectly,  as  no  one 
before  him  understood  it ;  and  in  the  plenitude  of  his 
power  he  applied  it  where  the  greatest  good  could  be 
accomplished. 

The  case  of  Jairus’  daughter  is  a  perfect  illustration  of 
the  fact  that  he  perfectly  understood  the  mental  conditions 
necessary  to  enable  him  to  raise  her  from  the  dead.  Jairus, 

1  See  the  chapters  on  Mental  Therapeutics. 


352 


THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


one  of  the  rulers  of  the  synagogue,  besought  Jesus  to  come 
to  his  house  and  heal  his  daughter,  who  was  lying  at  the 
point  of  death.  Jesus  readily  complied  with  the  request; 
but  before  they  arrived,  word  was  sent  to  Jairus  that  the 
damsel  was  dead  :  — 

“  While  he  yet  spake,  there  came  from  the  ruler  of  the  syna¬ 
gogue’s  house  certain  which  said,  Thy  daughter  is  dead :  why 
troubles!  thou  the  Master  any  further? 

“  As  soon  as  Jesus  heard  the  word  that  was  spoken,  he  saith 
unto  the  ruler  of  the  synagogue,  Be  not  afraid,  only  believe. 

“  And  he  suffered  no  man  to  follow  him,  save  Peter,  and 
James,  and  John  the  brother  of  James. 

“  And  he  cometh  to  the  house  of  the  ruler  of  the  synagogue, 
and  seeth  the  tumult,  and  them  that  wept  and  wailed  greatly. 

“  And  when  he  was  come  in,  he  saith  unto  them.  Why  make 
ye  this  ado,  and  weep  ?  the  damsel  is  not  dead,  but  sleepeth. 

“  And  they  laughed  him  to  scorn.  But  when  he  had  put  them 
all  out,  he  taketh  the  father  and  the  mother  of  the  damsel,  and 
them  that  were  with  him,  and  entereth  in  where  the  damsel  was 
lying. 

“  And  he  took  the  damsel  by  the  hand,  and  said  unto  her, 
Talitha  aanij  which  is,  being  interpreted.  Damsel,  I  say  unto 
thee,  arise. 

“  And  straightway  the  damsel  arose,  and  walked ;  for  she  was 
of  the  age  of  twelve  years.  And  they  were  astonished  with  a 
great  astonishment. 

“  And  he  charged  them  straitly  that  no  man  should  know  it ; 
and  commanded  that  something  should  be  given  her  to  eat.”  ^ 

There  are  several  points  embraced  in  the  above  which 
are  deserving  of  serious  consideration. 

The  first  is  that  Christ  perfectly  understood  the  importance 
of  securing  for  his  patient  a  favorable  mental  environment. 
To  that  end  he  endeavored  to  quiet  the  fears  of  the  father, 
and  to  impress  upon  him  the  necessity  of  holding  his  mind 
in  the  attitude  of  faith  and  confidence.  The  father  was 
necessarily  in  telepathic  rapport  with  the  daughter,  and  it 
was  important  that  he  should  not  impress  his  doubts  and 
fears  upon  her  departing  soul.  The  injunction  was,  there¬ 
fore,  laid  upon  him,  “  Be  not  afraid,  only  believe.” 


^  Mark  v.  35-43. 


THE  PHYSICAL  MANIFESTATIONS  OF  CHRIST.  353 


He  also  understood  the  value  of  a  positive  mental  force 
surrounding  the  deceased,  which  would  be  in  perfect  har¬ 
mony  with  his  own  force  and  purpose.  To  that  end,  he 
selected  three  of  the  most  powerful  of  his  followers,  Peter, 
James,  and  John,  to  be  present  in  the  chamber  of  death, 
and  he  suffered  no  one  else  to  follow  him.  He  kept  the 
multitude  of  unbelievers  as  far  away  as  possible.  When  he 
came  to  the  house  and  saw  the  tumult,  and  heard  the  weep¬ 
ing  and  wailing  of  the  friends  and  relatives  of  the  deceased, 
he  not  only  put  them  all  out  of  the  room,  but  sought  to 
quiet  their  fears  by  the  only  way  possible,  which  was  by 
assuring  them  that  “  the  damsel  is  not  dead,  but  sleepeth.” 
These  words  possess  a  double  meaning,  a  double  purpose  ; 
and  some  have  supposed  that  they  implied  that  the  damsel 
was  only  in  a  cataleptic  trance.  It  is  probable,  however, 
that  they  were  uttered  in  the  sense  that  the  soul  never  dies. 
It  will  be  remembered  that  he  used  the  same  expression  in 
regard  to  Lazarus,  but  afterwards  explained  his  meaning  by 
declaring  that  Lazarus  was  really  dead  in  the  common  ac¬ 
ceptation  of  the  term.  His  object  in  using  that  expression 
was  twofold.  First,  he  desired  to  quiet  the  fears  and  slop 
the  lamentations  of  the  friends  and  relatives,  for  the  obvious 
reason  that  their  hopeless  wailing  must  operate  as  a  strong 
adverse  suggestion  to  the  soul  of  the  patient.  The  only 
way  that  could  be  accomplished  was  by  an  assurance  that 
the  damsel  was  not  dead.  Secondly,  he  knew  the  potency 
of  such  a  suggestion  upon  the  patient  herself.  It  was  the 
master-stroke  on  his  part,  first,  to  quiet  the  fears  of  the  rela¬ 
tives,  and  secondly,  to  fill  the  departing  soul  with  the 
subjective  faith  necessary  to  enable  him  successfully  to  com¬ 
mand  it  to  return  to  the  body.  That  this  was  his  object 
in  uttering  those  words  there  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt ; 
more  especially  as  it  is  precisely  what  an  intelligent  mental 
healer  who  thoroughly  understands  the  law  of  suggestion 
would  do  to-day,  in  the  light  of  recent  rediscoveries  in  the 
science  which  Jesus  taught. 

Here,  then,  are  seven  separate  and  distinct  acts  which  he 
performed,  all  tending  in  the  one  direction  :  — 

21 


354  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


1.  He  inspired  the  father  with  faith,  because  he  was  in 
telepathic  rapport  with  his  daughter. 

2.  He  prohibited  the  multitude  of  unbelievers  from  ap¬ 
proaching  the  house,  knowing  the  adverse  influence  of  an 
atmosphere  of  incredulity  and  doubt. 

3.  He  took  three  of  his  most  powerful  apostles  with 
him,  for  the  purpose  of  surrounding  the  patient  with  an 
atmosphere  of  faith  and  courage. 

4.  He  excluded  the  weeping  friends  and  relatives  from 
the  sick  room,  for  the  same  reason  that  he  prevented  the 
multitude  from  following  him. 

5.  He  assured  them  that  the  damsel  was  not  dead,  for 
the  purpose  of  inspiring  them  with  faith  and  hope  in  her 
recovery,  and  thus  adding  another  favorable  element  to  the 
mental  environment. 

6.  By  the  same  words  of  assurance  that  the  damsel  was 
not  dead  he  conveyed  to  her  subjective  mind  the  most  pow¬ 
erful  suggestion  possible,  —  indeed,  the  only  suggestion  ap¬ 
plicable  to  the  exigencies  of  the  case. 

7.  Having  thus  secured  the  best  possible  conditions,  he 
took  the  damsel  by  the  hand,  and,  by  an  energetic  command, 
restored  her  to  life. 

The  sceptic  will  doubtless  interpose  the  objection  that  the 
damsel  could  not  have  been  dead,  but  that  it  was  merely  a 
case  of  suspended  animation.  To  this  the  reply  is,  first, 
that  it  is  claimed  by  the  Eastern  adepts  that  as  long  as  the 
vital  organs  of  the  body  are  perfect,  it  is  always  possible  to 
compel  the  soul  to  return  to  its  habitation.  It  is  certain 
that  there  are  many  apparently  well-authenticated  instances 
of  the  performance  of  the  feat  even  in  the  Western  hemi¬ 
sphere.  The  second  and  most  pertinent  reply  is  that  the 
evidential  value  of  the  case  is  just  as  great,  supposing  it  to 
have  been  a  case  of  suspended  animation.  The  point  is 
that  Jesus  could  not  have  taken  the  course  he  did  if  he  had 
not  been  in  full  possession  of  the  knowledge  of  the  laws  per¬ 
taining  to  mental  therapeutics.  This  one  case  is  demonstra¬ 
tive,  first,  that  he  perfectly  understood  the  laws  of  telepathy ; 
and  secondly,  that  he  fully  understood  the  law  of  suggestion. 


THE  PHYSICAL  MANIFESTATIONS  OF  CHRIST.  355 

Indeed,  Jesus  was  the  first  discoverer  of  that  law,  for  the 
word  faith  is  an  epitome  of  the  whole  law  of  suggestion. 
In  short,  the  internal  evidence  of  the  exact  truth  of  this 
narrative  is  demonstrative,  in  view  of  what  is  now  known  of 
the  laws  of  mental  healing.  For,  in  his  day,  no  one  but 
he  knew  enough  about  those  laws  to  enable  him  to  carry 
out  the  minute  details  of  the  process ;  and,  a  fortiori,  no 
one  could  have  written  the  narrative  in  the  absence  of 
an  exemplar. 

There  are  two  other  points  embraced  in  the  last  para¬ 
graph  of  the  narrative  which  must  not  be  overlooked. 

“  And  he  charged  them  straitly  that  no  man  should  know  it ; 
and  commanded  that  something  should  be  given  her  to  eat.” 

The  injunction  of  secrecy  contained  in  the  first  part  of 
the  paragraph  was  often  laid  upon  those  whom  he  healed. 
“  See  thou  tell  no  man  ”  was  an  injunction  which  was  often 
repeated  by  him  in  the  course  of  his  career  as  a  healer  of 
the  sick,  and  it  still  further  illustrates  his  wonderful  knowl¬ 
edge  of  the  science  of  mental  therapeutics.  The  reason 
for  so  charging  his  beneficiaries  has  only  recently  been  dis¬ 
covered.  It  is  this :  When  a  person  is  suddenly  healed 
by  mental  processes,  it  becomes  a  matter  of  the  first  im¬ 
portance  that  he  should  not  talk  on  the  subject  in  public, 
or  to  persons  who  are  sceptical.  The  reason  is  that  scep¬ 
tical  persons  are  apt  to  dispute  the  facts  or  to  ridicule  the 
idea  of  healing  by  such  processes.  They  often  say  to  a 
patient :  “  You  have  been  cured  by  exciting  your  imagina¬ 
tion,  and  the  disease  will  return  as  soon  as  the  excitement 
is  over.”  This  constitutes  a  suggestion  which  must  act  un¬ 
favorably,  and  it  often  causes  the  patient  to  look  for  the 
predicted  return  of  the  disease.  His  fears  are  aroused  by 
imperceptible  degrees ;  and  if  the  suggestion  is  persisted 
in,  the  fears  will  eventually  be  realized.  A  person  must 
needs  be  well  grounded  in  the  faith,  and  well  versed  in  the 
science,  to  resist  the  insidious  influence  of  an  unfavorable 
suggestion  constantly  reiterated  by  his  sceptical  friends.  It 
is,  therefore,  of  the  highest  importance  that  the  injunction 


356  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 

of  Christ  should  be  observed.  That  he  did  not  utter  those 
words  idly,  and  without  a  full  knowledge  of  the  principles 
involved,  cannot  be  doubted. 

“  And  he  commanded  that  something  should  be  given  her 
to  eat.”  These  words  show  merely  that  he  did  not  despise 
the  ordinary  means  of  imparting  vigor  to  the  wasted  frame. 
As  we  have  remarked  in  a  former  chapter,  he  did  not  hesi¬ 
tate  to  employ  material  remedies  in  connection  with,  and 
auxiliary  to,  his  occult  power.  The  mental  healers  of  to-day 
would  do  well  to  profit  by  the  example  of  the  Master,  espe¬ 
cially  when  their  patients  are  new  to  the  faith,  or,  from  any 
cause,  refractory. 

Taken  as  a  whole,  the  narrative  of  the  raising  of  Jairus’ 
daughter  from  the  dead  conveys  the  best  lesson  in  mental 
therapeutics  which  has  ever  been  given  to  mankind.  No 
mental  healer  of  this  day,  even  though  he  may  be  thor¬ 
oughly  versed  in  all  the  discoveries  of  modern  science 
relating  to  mental  therapeutics,  could  make  it  more 
complete. 

Again  I  repeat  that  no  man  who  lived  in  the  days  of 
Christ  could  have  written  that  narrative  except  under  the 
inspiration  of  literal  truth.  The  scientific  knowledge  neces¬ 
sary  for  the  production  of  a  fictitious  narrative  correspond¬ 
ing  to  that  did  not  exist  in  the  minds  of  men  previous  to 
this,  the  last  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Up  to  this 
time  the  knowledge  of  the  scientific  principles  involved  was 
confined  to  one  man,  —  Christ  Jesus. 

It  is  noteworthy,  in  this  connection,  that  Jesus  was  in  the 
habit  of  healing  by  what  is  known  at  this  day  as  “  absent 
treatment ;  ”  that  is,  healing  when  at  a  distance  from  the 
patient,  and  without  his  knowledge.  The  healing  of  the 
nobleman’s  son  at  Capernaum  is  a  striking  example  of 
this.  The  nobleman  met  Jesus  at  Cana,  and  besought  him 
to  heal  his  son,  who  was  at  the  point  of  death.  Without 
going  near  the  patient,  Christ  said  to  the  nobleman :  “  Go 
thy  way;  thy  son  liveth.”  It  was  afterwards  ascertained 
that  at  the  same  hour  the  fever  left  the  young  man,  and 
he  recovered.  The  principles  involved  in  absent  treat- 


THE  PHYSICAL  MANIFESTATIONS  OF  CHRIST.  357 


ment  have  been  fully  explained  in  another  chapter,  and  will 
not  be  repeated  here  ;  I  may  remark,  however,  that  the 
most  perfect  faith  that  can  be  obtained  for  therapeutic  pur¬ 
poses  is  that  which  arises  from  a  telepathic  suggestion  to 
the  subjective  mind  of  the  patient,  when  he  is  objectively 
ignorant  of  the  fact  that  anything  is  being  done  for  him.  It 
is  evident  that  Jesus  fully  understood  this  law,  as  he  did 
all  the  laws  of  mental  therapeutics.  The  patient  in  this 
case  was  objectively  ignorant  of  the  effort  made  to  heal  him  ; 
he  was,  therefore,  objectively  passive,  and  no  adverse  auto¬ 
suggestion  was  possible.  The  father  also  was  full  of  faith,  or 
he  would  not  have  entreated  Jesus  in  such  earnest  and  pa¬ 
thetic  terms  to  save  his  son.  The  conditions  were  therefore 
as  perfect  as  possible  for  successful  absent  treatment. 

The  healing  of  the  centurion’s  servant  was  a  parallel  case. 
It  was  on  this  occasion  that  Jesus  declared,  “  I  have  not 
found  so  great  faith,  no,  not  in  Israel.” 

It  is  needless  to  multiply  instances  to  illustrate  the  fact 
that  Jesus  healed  by  the  same  law  which  prevails  at  this 
day,  —  the  law  of  faith.  It  seems  like  arguing  a  self-evident 
proposition  to  show  that  he  required  that  condition  on  the 
part  of  the  patient  to  enable  him  to  heal  the  sick  or  to  do 
any  mighty  work.  He  never  pretended  to  be  able  to  dis¬ 
pense  with  that  condition,  or  to  be  superior  to  the  law  which 
he  proclaimed  to  the  world.  When  he  said  anything  about 
it  he  always  gave  the  patients  to  understand  that  it  was 
through  faith  that  they  were  made  whole.  The  New  Testa¬ 
ment  is  full  of  such  expressions  as  ;  “  Thy  faith  hath  made 
thee  whole  ;  ”  “  According  to  your  faith  be  it  unto  you  ;  ” 
“  If  thou  canst  believe,  all  things  are  possible  to  him  that 
believeth  ;  ”  “  Said  I  not  unto  thee  that  if  thou  wouldst 
believe,  thou  shouldst  see  the  glory  of  God?  ”  These  were 
neither  idle  nor  untruthful  expressions. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  was  said  of  him  that  at  his  own 
home  he  failed  to  do  many  mighty  works,  “  because  of  their 
unbelief.”  The  condition  was  absent  there,  because  the 
people  had  known  him  from  boyhood,  and  could  not  be¬ 
lieve  that  the  “  carpenter’s  son  ”  could  do  any  mighty  works. 


358  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 

Besides,  as  Jesus  himself  remarked,  “a  prophet  is  not  with¬ 
out  honor  save  in  his  own  country.” 

Faith  was  the  essential  prerequisite  to  the  exercise  of 
all  the  power  that  he  possessed,  and  it  was  the  condition 
precedent  to  its  inheritance  by  those  who  were  to  come 
after  him. 

“And  these  signs  shall  follow  them  that  believe;  In  my 
name  shall  they  cast  out  devils ;  they  shall  speak  with  new 
tongues ; 

“  They  shall  take  up  serpents ;  and  if  they  drink  any  deadly 
thing,  it  shall  not  hurt  them ;  they  shall  lay  hands  on  the  sick, 
and  they  shall  recover.”  ^ 

Again,  — 

“Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you.  He  that  believeth  on  me,  the 
works  that  1  do  shall  he  do  also ;  and  greater  works  than  these 
shall  he  do;  because  I  go  unto  my  Father.” ^ 

Christ  transmitted  his  power  as  a  sacred  heritage  to  all 
mankind.  He  had  taught  his  followers,  by  precept  and 
example,  the  conditions  necessary  to  its  exercise.  Those 
conditions  were  expressed  in  the  one  faith.  He  never 
intimated  to  them  that  he  healed  by  any  other  method  than 
that  which  he  transmitted  to  them.  His  example  would 
have  been  lost  to  mankind  if  it  were  not  illustrative  of  his 
precepts.  It  would  be  valueless  to  the  world  if  it  did  not 
illustrate  the  principles  of  the  science  which  he  taught.  To 
seek  to  cast  a  shade  of  doubt  upon  the  verity  of  his  teach¬ 
ings,  to  intimate  a  want  of  harmony  between  his  practice 
and  his  precepts,  is  to  attempt  to  rob  him  of  the  glory  and 
honor  due  to  one  who  was  able  to  divine  the  fundamental 
laws  of  our  being,  nineteen  hundred  years  before  his  teach¬ 
ings  could  be  verified  by  the  inductive  process  of  science, 
and  to  destroy  the  force  of  the  strongest  internal  evidence 
of  the  truth  of  sacred  history. 


1  Mark  xvi.  17,  18. 


2  John.  xiv.  12. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

THE  PHYSICAL  MANIFESTATIONS  OF  CHRIST  {continued'). 


The  Word  Faith  in  its  Application  to  Psychic  Phenomena.  —  Its 
Definition. —  An  Epitome  of  the  Law  of  Suggestion.  —  Subjective 
Faith  only  required.  —  Illustrative  Incident.  —  The  “  Spoken 
Word.” — Jesus  knew  the  Law,  and  always  acted  within  its  Limi¬ 
tations. —  Intuitive  Perception  of  the  Laws  of  the  Soul.  —  His 
Manhood  and  its  Limitations.  —  Our  Warranty  of  Title  as  Sons 
of  God.  —  Christ  constantly  controlled  by  Reason. —  His  Subjec¬ 
tive  Powers  subservient.  —  The  Three  Temptations  illustrative. 
—  The  Great  Lesson  to  Mankind. —  The  Normal  Exercise  of 
Subjective  Power.  —  Simon  the  Sorcerer.  —  Miracle  not  a  Nece.s- 
sary  Explanation  of  the  Power  of  Christ.  —  Conclusions. 

TN  proceeding  to  make  a  more  direct  application  of  our 
^  hypothesis  to  the  doctrines  of  Jesus,  it  will  be  necessary 
first  to  consider  the  meaning  of  the  word  faith  as  it  was 
employed  by  him,  and  as  it  must  be  understood  in  its 
application  to  all  psychic  phenomena. 

In  the  common  acceptation  of  the  term,  faith  is  “  belief ; 
the  assent  of  the  mind  to  the  truth  of  what  is  declared  by 
another,  resting  solely  and  implicitly  on  his  authority  and 
veracity;  reliance  on  testimony.”^  “The  faith  of  the 
gospel  is  that  emotion  of  the  mind  which  is  called  ‘  trust,’ 
or  ‘  confidence,’  exercised  towards  the  moral  character  of 
God,  and  particularly  of  the  Saviour.”  2 

It  is  obvious  that  neither  of  these  definitions  properly 
characterizes  that  emotion  of  the  mind,  called  faith,  which 
is  the  necessary  prerequisite  condition  of  the  mind  of  a 


1  Webster. 


2  Dwight. 


360  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 

person  to  enable  him  to  confer  or  to  receive  the  benefits 
of  psychic  power. 

It  has  been  shown  in  a  former  chapter  that  the  faith 
necessary  to  enable  a  person  to  be  healed  by  mental  pro¬ 
cesses  is  subjective  faith;  that  is,  the  faith  of  the  subjec¬ 
tive  mind,  or  soul.  It  has  been  shown  that  this  faith  may 
be  entertained  by  the  subjective  mind  in  positive  opposi¬ 
tion  to  the  faith,  or  belief,  of  the  objective  mind,  —  that 
it  may  be  forced  upon  the  subjective  mind  in  defiance  of 
objective  reason  or  the  evidence  of  the  objective  senses. 
It  is  not  deemed  necessary,  therefore,  to  enter  at  this  time 
into  a  full  discussion  of  this  branch  of  the  subject,  and 
the  reader  is  referred  to  the  chapters  on  psycho-thera¬ 
peutics.  In  this  view  of  the  question  it  is  obvious  that  the 
definition  of  the  word  faith  must  be  revised  if  we  would 
understand  it  as  Christ  understood  it,  and  make  it  conform 
to  the  facts  demonstrated  by  modern  science.  In  other 
words,  we  must  define  that  particular  kind  of  faith  which 
pertains  to  the  development  and  exercise  of  psychic  power, 
—  that  faith  of  which  Christ  was  the  first  to  proclaim  the 
necessity  and  define  the  attributes. 

Faith,  therefore,  in  the  sense  in  which  Jesus  employed 
it,  may  be  defined  as  the  assent  of  the  soul,  or  subjective 
mind,  to  the  truth  of  what  is  declared  to  be  true. 

In  other  words,  faith  is  that  emotion  of  the  human  soul 
which  consists  in  the  unhesitating  acceptance  and  belief  in 
the  absolute  verity  of  a  suggestion. 

As  has  been  frequently  stated  before,  the  belief  of  the 
subjective  mind  in  the  verity  of  a  suggestion  made  to  it  is 
the  essential  and  never-failing  law  of  its  being.  If  the 
suggestion  made  to  it  is  not  counteracted  by  an  auto-sug¬ 
gestion  proceeding  from  the  objective  mind  of  the  indi¬ 
vidual,  it  will  always  be  unhesitatingly  accepted.  If  it  is 
controverted  by  auto-suggestion,  the  strongest  suggestion 
must  prevail.  This  law  is  universal.  It  frequently  hap¬ 
pens  that  a  therapeutic  suggestion  is  counteracted  by  auto¬ 
suggestion.  The  latter  may  arise  from  intense  prejudice, 
or  from  natural  scepticism  regarding  phenomena  not  under- 


THE  PHYSICAL  MANIFESTATIONS  OF  CHRIST.  36 1 

stood.  It  is,  however,  comparatively  easy  to  overcome  an 
auto-suggestion,  in  the  treatment  of  disease,  for  the  pa¬ 
tient  is  generally  anxious  to  be  cured,  and  is  willing  to 
assume  a  passive  state  of  mind ;  and  this  is  generally  all 
that  is  necessary.  Moreover,  the  subjective  mind,  ever  on 
the  alert  for  any  means  of  preserving  the  life  or  health  of 
the  individual,  will  readily  accept  a  therapeutic  suggestion  if 
there  is  no  active  counter  auto-suggestion.  If  the  healer 
understands  the  law  of  auto-suggestion,  and  advises  his 
patient  that  he  can  overcome  the  effect  of  objective  un¬ 
belief  by  a  simple  assertion  of  belief,  salutary  results  all  the 
more  readily  follow. 

A  remarkable  instance  illustrating  this  principle  occurred 
in  the  history  of  Jesus.  It  was  in  the  case  of  the  man 
who  brought  his  son  to  be  healed,  who  was  afflicted  with 
a  “  dumb  spirit.”  He  had  gone  to  Jesul’  disciples,  who 
failed  to  effect  a  cure.  In  despair,  he  appealed  to  the 
Master,  saying :  — 

“  If  thou  canst  do  any  thing,  have  compassion  on  us,  and 
help  us. 

“Jesus  said  unto  him.  If  thou  canst  believe,  all  things  are 
possible  to  him  that  believeth. 

“  And  straightway  the  father  of  the  child  cried  out,  and  said 
with  tears,  Lord,  I  believe;  help  thou  mine  unbelief.”  ^ 

Whereupon  Jesus  rebuked  the  foul  spirit  and  commanded 
it  to  come  out  of  the  boy,  “  and  enter  no  more  into  him.” 
And  the  boy  was  instantly  healed. 

Now,  the  whole  circumstances  surrounding  this  case  were 
calculated  to  render  the  father  sceptical  concerning  the 
power  of  Jesus  to  heal  his  son.  He  had  gone  to  the  dis¬ 
ciples,  and  they  had  failed.  When  he  appealed  to  Jesus  he 
said  :  “  If  thou  canst  do  any  thing,  have  compassion  on  us, 
and  help  us.”  This  expression  plainly  implied  a  doubt. 
After  Jesus  had  explained  that  belief  was  a  necessary  condi¬ 
tion  of  success,  the  father  cried  out :  “  Lord,  I  believe  ;  help 
tfiou  mine  unbelief.”  This  expression  plainly  indicated 
a  want  of  objective  faith.  But  he  spoke  the  words,  “  I 
1  Mark  ix.  22-24. 


362  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 

believe,”  and  then  intimated  to  Jesus  that  his  real  belief 
depended  upon  him.  He  uttered  the  words  “  I  believe  ” 
in  pursuance  of  an  earnest  desire  to  comply  with  the  con¬ 
ditions  imposed,  and  that  was  sufficient.  These  words  con¬ 
stituted  an  auto-suggestion  from  his  objective  mind  to  his 
subjective  mind;  and  Jesus  was  satisfied  with  that  com¬ 
pliance  with  his  demand  for  faith,  and  he  instantly  healed 
the  sufferer.  He  knew  the  law,  and  was  fully  aware  that  any 
lingering  objective  doubt  remaining  in  the  father’s  objective 
mind  could  not  prevail  against  the  “spoken  word”  of  faith. 

This  case  is  also  illustrative  of  the  principle  discussed 
in  the  previous  chapter ;  namely,  the  desirability  of  having  a 
favorable  mental  environment,  especially  in  cases  where  the 
objective  mind  of  the  patient  could  not  be  appealed  to. 
The  boy  was  in  a  state  of  complete  objective  insensibility. 
The  father  was  the  only  one  present  who  was  in  telepathic 
rapport  with  him.  Hence  the  importance  of  impressing 
the  father’s  subjective  mind  with  faith,  to  the  end  that  his 
mental  condition  might  be  impressed  upon  the  subjective 
mind  of  the  son,  and  by  that  means  exert  a  favorable  in¬ 
fluence  upon  the  latter  by  telepathic  suggestion.  In  this 
case  the  father’s  spoken  word  of  belief  was  a  more  potent 
suggestion  than  his  objective  doubts,  and  the  son’s  subjec¬ 
tive  mind,  ever  alert,  seized  upon  the  suggestion ;  and 
Jesus,  by  means  of  a  suggestion  uttered  in  a  solemn  tone 
of  supreme  authority,  healed  him  instantly. 

I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  Jesus  could  not  heal  in  such 
cases  where  the  mental  environment  was  unfavorable ;  but 
the  fact  that  he  took  infinite  pains,  wherever  practicable, 
to  secure  the  best  conditions,  shows  that  he  understood  the 
law  and  worked  within  its  limitations. 

Certain  it  is  that  he  never  performed  any  of  his  wonder¬ 
ful  works  outside  the  laws  which  he  proclaimed,  nor  did 
he  ever  intimate  that  he  could  do  so.  It  is  true  that  his 
biographers  did  not  always  relate  the  details  of  the  trans¬ 
actions  recorded ;  but  it  must  be  remembered  that  they 
wrote  at  a  later  day,  and  may  not  have  been  in  possession 
of  all  the  details.  It  is,  however,  a  marvellous  fact, 


THE  PHYSICAL  MANIFESTATIONS  OF  CHRIST.  363 

and  one  which  constitutes  indubitable  evidence  of  the  truth 
of  his  history,  that  in  no  instance  do  they  relate  a  single 
act  performed  or  word  spoken  by  him,  relating  to  the  heal¬ 
ing  of  the  sick,  that  does  not  reveal  his  perfect  knowledge 
of  and  compliance  with  the  laws  which  pertain  to  mental 
therapeutics  as  they  are  revealed  in  modern  times  through 
experiment  and  the  processes  of  inductive  reasoning. 

There  is  but  one  legitimate  conclusion,  and  that  is  that 
the  discoveries  of  modern  science  demonstrate  the  essential 
truth  of  the  history  of  the  physical  manifestations  of  Jesus. 

The  next  question  is.  How  did  it  happen  that  Jesus  came 
into  possession  of  the  knowledge  of  the  true  science  of 
mental  therapeutics,  when  no  one  else  in  all  the  world  at 
that  time  knew  its  rudiments?  It  may  be  true,  and  doubt¬ 
less  it  is  true,  that  there  were  mental  healers  before  his 
time,  who,  by  various  methods,  performed  wonderful  works 
in  psycho-therapeutics.  But  it  must  be  conceded  that  he 
was  the  first  who  evinced  a  true  knowledge  of  the  underly¬ 
ing  principles  of  the  science.  He  it  was  who  first  divined 
the  very  essence  of  that  science,  and  proclaimed  it  to  the 
world  in  the  one  word  faith.  That  word  embraced  all  that 
it  was  necessary  for  the  world  to  know  at  that  time.  Faith, 
and  the  means  of  acquiring  it,  is  the  substance  of  all  that 
he  taught  to  his  disciples  concerning  the  means  of  heal¬ 
ing  the  sick ;  and  it  was  all  that  was  necessary  to  enable 
them  to  imitate  his  example  and  to  transmit  the  power 
to  those  who  should  come  after  them.  To  use  his  own 
language,  it  was  all  that  they  could  bear.  It  was  the  ex- 
otefic  science  of  mental  healing.  The  esoteric  doctrine 
he  reserved  for  the  time  when  mankind,  inspired  by  the 
“  Spirit  of  truth,”  which  he  promised,  should  be  able  to 
discover  it  for  themselves.  His  was  the  “  dispensation  of 
faith.”  The  “dispensation  of  knowledge  ”  was  yet  to  come. 
That  he  was  in  possession  of  the  knowledge  of  the  under¬ 
lying  principles  of  the  whole  science  of  mental  healing  is 
all  but  self-evident.  No  man  without  that  knowledge  could 
have  done  what  he  did  to  secure  the  most  favorable  con¬ 
ditions  for  the  exercise  of  his  power.  It  required  a  full 


364  the  law  of  psychic  phenomena. 

comprehension  of  the  law  of  suggestion,  a  thorough  knowl¬ 
edge  of  the  law  of  telepathy,  a  complete  realization  of  the 
dual  nature  of  the  mind  of  man,  and  the  power  of  the  soul 
over  the  functions  of  the  body,  to  enable  him  to  take  the 
seven  steps  preparatory  to  the  raising  of  Jairus’  daughter 
from  the  dead.  If  he  had  failed  in  that  attempt,  his  pre¬ 
paratory  steps  to  that  end  would  nevertheless  have  demon¬ 
strated  his  knowledge  of  the  laws  which  pertain  to  healing 
by  psychic  power. 

The  theologian  will  find  a  ready-made  answer  to  the 
question.  How  did  Jesus  come  into  possession  of  knowl¬ 
edge  which  it  has  taken  nineteen  hundred  years  of  scien¬ 
tific  research  to  verify  ?  His  answer  will  be  ;  “  By  direct 
inspiration  from  God ;  by  virtue  of  his  being  the  Son  of 
God,  —  one  with  the  Father.”  I  shall  not  attempt  to  gain¬ 
say  this  proposition,  but  shall  endeavor  to  show  that  it  is 
true  in  the  highest  and  best  sense  of  the  expression.  In 
doing  so  I  shall  not  discuss  the  question  of  his  miraculous 
birth ;  I  leave  that  to  the  theologian.  I  desire  simply  to 
show  that,  whatever  may  have  been  the  conditions  of  his 
birth,  he  took  upon  himself  the  nature  and  attributes  of 
humanity,  and  subjected  himself  to  its  physical  conditions 
and  limitations.  In  other  words,  his  wondrous  works  were 
performed  within  the  domain  of  the  same  natural  laws 
which  limit  the  powers  of  all  mankind.  He  was  a  man, 
and  merely  a  man,  in  his  physical  life  and  manifestations, 
and  differed  from  other  men  only  in  the  degree  of  his 
faculties  and  in  the  possession  of  the  intuitive  power  of 
perception  of  the  laws  of  the  soul  in  its  relations  to  the 
physical  world  and  to  God. 

I  have  shown  that  Jesus  did  not  find  it  necessary  to  go 
outside  the  pale  of  natural  law  for  the  power  to  perform  his 
mighty  works,  that  he  not  only  operated  within  the  do¬ 
main  of  natural  law,  but  even  avowed  and  proclaimed  the 
fact  to  the  world.  It  remains  for  me  to  show  that  his 
knowledge  of  those  laws  was  obtained  through  the  operation 
of  natural  law,  and  without  the  necessity  of  our  invoking 
the  aid  of  miraculous  power. 


THE  PHYSICAL  MANIFESTATIONS  OF  CHRIST.  365 

It  will  be  remembered  that  in  a  former  chapter  of  this 
book  it  was  shown  that  the  subjective  mind,  or  soul,  of  man 
possesses  the  inherent  power  to  perceive,  under  certain  ex¬ 
ceptional  conditions  not  clearly  defined,  those  operations  of 
nature  which  are  governed  by  fixed  laws.  It  was  by  means 
of  this  power  of  instantaneous  perception  of  the  laws  of 
numbers  that  Zerah  Colburn,  before  his  objective  education 
was  sufficient  to  enable  him  to  understand  the  power  of  the 
nine  digits,  was  enabled  instantly  to  state  the  cube  root  of 
any  number  that  was  given  him.  He  could  never  give  any 
explanation  of  the  means  by  which  the  result  was  accom¬ 
plished.  It  was  beyond  his  own  objective  powers  of  com¬ 
prehension.  He  simply  perceived  the  truth. 

It  was  this  power  that  enabled  Blind  Tom  to  perceive  the 
laws  of  the  harmony  of  sounds.  He  was  without  objective 
education,  and  devoid  of  the  capacity  to  acquire  one  ;  but 
from  the  moment  when  he  discovered  an  old  piano  in  an 
unused  room  of  his  master’s  mansion,  he  was  able  to  im¬ 
provise  beautiful  melodies,  and  to  reproduce  with  remarka¬ 
ble  accuracy  a  piece  of  music  after  once  hearing  it  played. 

This  is  a  power  which  transcends  reason,  and  is  indepen¬ 
dent  of  induction.  Instances  of  its  development  might  be 
multiplied  indefinitely,  but  it  is  not  necessary  in  this  con¬ 
nection  to  enlarge  upon  a  fact  which  will  receive  the  instant 
assent  of  the  intelligent  reader  when  his  attention  is  called 
to  it.  In  this  objective  existence  of  ours,  trammelled  as  is 
the  human  soul  by  its  fleshly  tabernacle,  it  is  comparatively 
rare  that  conditions  are  favorable  to  the  development  of  the 
phenomena.  But  enough  is  known  to  warrant  the  con¬ 
clusion  that  when  the  soul  is  released  from  its  objective 
environment  it  will  be  enabled  to  perceive  all  the  laws  of 
its  being,  to  “see  God  as  he  is,’’  by  the  perception  of  the 
laws  which  he  has  instituted.  It  is  the  knowledge  of  this 
power  which  demonstrates  our  true  relationship  to  God, 
which  confers  the  warranty  of  our  right  to  the  title  of  “  sons 
of  God,”  and  confirms  our  inheritance  of  our  rightful  share 
of  his  attributes  and  powers,  —  our  heirship  of  God,  our 
joint  heirship  with  Jesus  Christ. 


366  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


It  was  this  power  of  perception  of  truth  without  the  neces¬ 
sity  of  resorting  to  the  slow  and  laborious  processes  of 
induction  that  enabled  Christ  to  divine  the  whole  law 
of  mental  therapeutics.  Science,  after  nineteen  hundred 
years  of  induction,  has  demonstrated  the  fact  that  he  per¬ 
ceived  the  whole  law  and  applied  it  with  scientific  accu- 
racy.  The  most  marvellous  part  of  it  all  is  that  the  account 
of  it  has  been  preserved  and  transmitted  with  such  fidelity 
of  scientific  detail. 

Leaving  out  of  consideration  the  question  of  the  alleged 
miraculous  conception  and  birth  of  Christ,  it  is  certain  that 
he  was  exceptionally  endowed,  morally,  physically,  and 
mentally.  No  man  ever  before  possessed  the  subjective 
power  that  he  did.  And  yet,  unlike  most  of  those  of  mod¬ 
ern  times  who  are  exceptionally  endowed  with  that  power, 
his  objective  faculties  and  his  subjective  powers  seem  to 
have  been  harmoniously  balanced  and  developed.  This  is 
shown  by  his  perfect  moral  character  and  attributes.  It 
is  demonstrated  by  the  fact  that  his  subjective  mind  was 
always  under  the  perfect  control  of  his  reason.  In  these 
respects  he  presents  a  most  striking  contrast  to  the  great 
majority  of  persons,  especially  of  the  present  day,  who  are 
in  possession  of  great  subjective  powers.  Not  clearly  un¬ 
derstanding  the  relationship  between  their  objective  and 
subjective  faculties,  they  allow  the  latter  to  usurp  control. 
They  realize  the  wonderful  powers  and  attributes  of  the 
human  soul,  but  they  fail  to  understand  its  equally  wonder¬ 
ful,  but  necessary,  limitations.  They  realize  that  the  soul 
is  “  God  in  us,”  and  naturally  conclude  that  it  is  endowed 
with  all  godlike  attributes.  They  fail  to  realize  that  while  it 
is  imprisoned  in  the  body,  it  must  be  limited  and  controlled 
by  its  objective  environment.  They  cannot  understand  that 
the  soul,  as  long  as  it  is  amenable  to  control  by  the  power 
of  suggestion,  must  necessarily  be  limited  in  its  powers  of 
reasoning.  Most  important  of  all,  they  fail  to  understand 
that  the  soul  is  the  seat  of  all  human  passion  and  emotion ; 
that,  uncontrolled  by  objective  reason,  it  runs  riot  at  the 
bidding  of  every  immoral  suggestion ;  that  his  objective 


THE  PHYSICAL  MANIFESTATIONS  OF  CHEIST.  367 

powers  of  reason  were  given  to  man  to  enable  him  to  train 
the  soul  for  eternity,  —  to  work  out  his  own  salvation. 

The  whole  life  of  Christ  is  an  illustration  of  the  fact  that 
he  knew  the  law,  and,  knowing  it,  employed  his  subjective 
powers  in  their  legitimate  domain,  and  never  suffered  himself 
to  be  tempted  to  allow  them  to  usurp  the  throne  of  reason. 

The  account  of  his  temptations  in  the  wilderness  is  a 
striking  illustration  of  this  fact,  and  it  teaches  a  lesson  to 
humanity  of  the  utmost  practical  importance.  Like  all  the 
recorded  events  of  his  life,  it  is  intended  to  illustrate  a 
great  principle.  It  is  not  a  mere  literal  history  of  an  epi¬ 
sode  in  his  career,  in  which  a  personal  devil  figured  at  a  dis¬ 
advantage.  To  suppose  that  he  could  be  tempted  by  such  a 
devil  as  has  been  pictured  by  some,  would  be  to  degrade 
him  below  the  level  of  common  humanity.  But  to  interpret 
the  story  as  a  symbolical  vision  appearing  to  Christ  after  his 
forty  days’  fast  in  the  wilderness,  is  to  find  in  it  one  of  the 
most  important  lessons  ever  conveyed  to  humanity. 

He  was  just  entering  upon  his  ministry.  He  had  shut 
himself  out  from  the  world  for  forty  days,  preparatory  to 
entering  upon  his  work.  He  employed  his  time  in  silent 
contemplation  and  earnest  prayer  for  strength  and  power 
and  Divine  guidance.  He  fasted  all  this  time,  as  a  physical 
preparation  necessary  to  the  attainment  of  the  full  powers  of 
the  soul.  At  the  end  of  that  time,  conscious  of  the  full  pos¬ 
session  of  subjective  power  such  as  no  man  ever  before 
attained,  contemplating  the  career  upon  which  he  was  about 
to  enter,  realizing  all  its  possibilities  for  good  and  all  its 
opportunities  for  the  attainment  of  personal  power  and 
aggrandizement,  the  temptation  came.  His  subjective  mind 
was  the  tempter.  Reasoning  deductively  from  the  con¬ 
sciousness  of  transcendent  power,  and  selfishly,  in  obedience 
to  the  laws  of  its  being,  it  pictured  to  the  imagination  of 
Jesus  all  the  possibilities  in  store  for  him  if  he  chose  to 
exercise  his  power  for  selfish  ends.  The  first  temptation 
appealed  to  his  sense  of  personal  necessity.  He  was  poor. 
“  He  had  not  where  to  lay  his  head  ”  at  night.  He  was 
dependent  upon  the  bounty  of  his  friends  for  his  daily  food. 


368  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


In  the  pursuit  of  his  mission  he  had  the  prospect  before  him 
of  being  often  thrown  among  strangers  hostile  to  his  faith ; 
and  his  immediate  necessities,  after  his  forty  days’  fast,  gave 
intensity  to  the  temptation  and  suggested  its  concrete  form. 
It  came  in  the  words :  “  If  thou  be  the  Son  of  God,  com¬ 
mand  that  these  stones  be  made  bread.”  Jesus  understood 
the  vision,  not  only  as  pertaining  to  his  present  necessities, 
but,  in  its  broader  sense,  as  a  temptation  to  the  exercise  of 
his  power  for  selfish  personal  ends,  for  the  promotion  of  his 
individual  ease  and  comfort. 

It  was  then  that  his  objective  power  of  reason  asserted 
itself,  and  he  refused  to  allow  his  subjective  mind  to  usurp 
control.  He  knew  that  his  mission  on  earth  could  not  be 
promoted  by  the  employment  of  his  subjective  powers  for 
the  purpose  of  ministering  to  his  own  selfish  wants.  There¬ 
fore  he  spurned  a  temptation  which,  if  yielded  to,  would 
weaken  the  altruistic  sentiment  which  was  regnant  in  him. 

His  next  temptation  followed  the  first  in  deductive  logical 
sequence.  It  came  in  the  form  of  a  symbolical  vision,  in 
which  he  saw  himself  placed  upon  a  pinnacle  of  the  temple, 
and  a  voice  said  ;  “  If  thou  be  the  Son  of  God,  cast  thyself 
down  :  for  it  is  written.  He  shall  give  his  angels  charge  con¬ 
cerning  thee :  and  in  their  hands  they  shall  bear  thee  up, 
lest  at  any  time  thou  dash  thy  foot  against  a  stone.”  This 
suggestion  was  a  sequence  to  the  other,  for  it  was  as  much 
as  to  say  :  “  If  you  wish  to  heal  the  sick,  exhibit  your  power 
in  public,  where  all  men  can  see  and  know  that  you  have 
the  power  to  preserve  your  own  life.  Then  will  you  receive 
the  plaudits  of  the  multitude,  and  their  faith  in  you  will  be 
made  strong.” 

His  answer  to  this,  “  Thou  shalt  not  tempt  the  Lord  thy 
God,”  conveys,  in  one  brief  sentence,  a  valuable  and  impor¬ 
tant  lesson  pertaining  to  the  exercise  of  subjective  power,  — 
a  lesson  the  importance  of  which,  in  its  application  to  the 
science  of  mental  therapeutics,  cannot  be  overestimated. 
In  its  general  sense  it  means  that  subjective  power  should 
never  be  exercised  for  purposes  of  mere  display.  The 
tempter  appealed  to  his  love  of  approbation,  his  pride  of 


THE  PHYSICAL  MANIFESTATIONS  OF  CHRIST.  369 

power,  his  desire  for  the  plaudits  of  the  multitude,  tempered 
by  the  insidious  suggestion  that,  by  the  public  exhibition  of 
his  power,  he  could  all  the  more  readily  secure  the  confi¬ 
dence  of  the  people  and  promote  the  object  of  his  mission. 
He  had  refused  to  exercise  his  power  for  the  purpose  of 
securing  his  own  ease  and  comfort,  for  the  reason  that  his 
mission,  in  part,  was  to  relieve  the  sufferings  of  others  ;  and 
now  he  was  tempted  to  promote  that  object  by  a  public  dis¬ 
play  in  the  presence  of  an  admiring  multitude.  There  was 
nothing  morally  wrong  in  either  suggestion.  It  is  not  wrong, 
per  se,  to  produce  bread,  or  to  take  measures  to  secure  our 
own  comfort.  Nor  is  it  wrong,  in  itself,  to  give  a  public  ex¬ 
hibition  for  a  good  purpose ;  but  from  the  standpoint  from 
which  he  viewed  it,  both  were  wrong  in  principle  and  practice. 
The  first  would  interfere  with,  and  endanger  the  success  of, 
his  mission  ;  the  second  would  be  trifling  with  the  gift  of  God. 
It  would  be  a  wanton  exercise  of  a  power  which  is  given,  not 
for  idle  display,  but  for  the  promotion  of  the  highest  good 
of  mankind,  when  exercised  within  its  legitimate  sphere. 

But  there  was  another  and  a  more  potent  reason  still  for 
his  refusal  to  exercise  his  power  for  purposes  of  display.  It 
is  a  reason  which  the  world  is  just  beginning  to  appreciate. 
It  is  a  reason  which  finds  its  justification  in  the  fundamental 
principles  pertaining  to  the  exercise  of  psychic  power.  As 
in  all  the  words  and  deeds  of  Christ,  there  was  a  scientific 
principle  underlying  the  sententious  expression  employed  m 
his  rejection  of  the  second  temptation.  This  principle  ap¬ 
plies  with  special  force  to  the  employment  of  psychic  power 
to  the  healing  of  the  sick. 

It  has  been  shown  in  a  former  chapter  that  the  normal 
functions  of  the  subjective  entity  consist  in  the  performance 
of  those  acts  which  tend  to  the  preservation  and  perpetu¬ 
ation  of  the  human  race.  It  has  also  been  shown  that 
all  exercise  of  subjective  power  outside  that  domain  is  ab¬ 
normal,  and,  consequently,  injurious.  As  this  subject  has 
been  sufficiently  enlarged  upon  elsewhere,  it  need  only  be 
mentioned  here.  It  was  this  principle  which  Christ  desired 
to  illustrate  and  enforce,  and  he  never  neglected  an  oppor- 


3/0  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


tunity  to  do  so  by  precept  or  example.  As  before  remarked, 
it  applies  with  special  force  to  the  exercise  of  that  power  for 
the  purpose  of  healing,  and  it  teaches  a  most  important  and 
salutary  lesson  both  to  healer  and  patient.  It  is  this  :  that 
no  one  should  ever  presume  to  violate  the  laws  of  health  for 
the  mere  purpose  of  showing  to  himself  or  to  others  that  he 
has  the  psychic  power  to  heal  himself.  A  necessary  or  an 
unavoidable  act  may  be  performed  which  is  ordinarily  inju¬ 
rious  to  health,  or  even  dangerous  to  life,  and  psychic  power 
may  be  invoked  to  avert  the  natural  consequences ;  but 
when  one  wantonly  violates  the  laws  of  health  for  the  mere 
purposes  of  display,  he  is  apt  to  find  that  the  power  to  avert 
the  consequences  has  deserted  him.  He  has  violated  the 
commandment  uttered  by  the  Saviour  on  that  occasion ; 
“  Thou  shalt  not  tempt  the  Lord  thy  God.”  He  has  vio¬ 
lated  a  law  of  nature,  a  law  of  psycho-therapeutics,  which 
Christ  thus  sententiously  formulated  for  the  guidance  of  all 
who  should  come  after  him.  Like  all  the  other  laws  which 
he  revealed  to  mankind,  it  applies  with  equal  force  now  as 
it  did  when  he  first  promulgated  it  nineteen  hundred  years 
ago  ;  and  it  may  safely  be  said  that  there  is  no  one  act  of 
his  life  that  more  clearly  discloses  his  perfect  knowledge 
of  the  laws  which  pertain  to  the  normal  exercise  of  subjec¬ 
tive  power  than  his  rejection  of  the  three  temptations. 

His  next  temptation  came  in  the  form  of  a  symbolical 
vision,  in  which  he  saw  himself,  figuratively,  upon  the  top 
of  “an  exceeding  high  mountain,”  from  which  he  could  view 
“  the  kingdoms  of  the  world,  and  the  glory  of  them.” 

The  other  temptations  attacked  his  usefulness  as  a  man. 
The  third  was  directed  against  his  spiritual  mission  also. 
It  came  in  a  more  insidious  form  than  either  the  first  or 
second,  for  its  promises  included  both.  It  was  equivalent 
to  saying :  “You  see  the  wide  world  before  you,  with  all  its 
comforts,  its  honors  and  glory,  its  wealth  and  splendor  and 
power.  All  these  can  you  acquire  by  the  exercise  of  that 
potent  force  with  which  you  have  been  invested.” 

“Then  saith  Jesus  unto  him,  Get  thee  hence,  Satan:  for  it  is 
written.  Thou  shalt  worship  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  him  only 
shalt  thou  serve.” 


THE  PHYSICAL  MANIFESTATIONS  OF  CHRIST.  371 


Again  had  reason  triumphed  over  the  natural,  instinctive 
suggestions  of  his  human  nature.  Again  had  he  refused  to 
employ  the  power  with  which  he  had  been  invested,  outside 
the  limits  of  its  legitimate  domain.  Again  had  he  taught  a 
lesson  to  humanity  by  illustrating  the  normal  relations  be¬ 
tween  the  objective  and  subjective  faculties,  —  between 
reason  and  instinct.  In  his  rejection  of  the  last  temptation 
he  did  more,  —  he  exhibited  his  entire  devotion  to  the  ob¬ 
jects  of  his  spiritual  mission.  He  had  come  into  the  world, 
taking  upon  himself  the  yoke  and  burden  of  common  hu¬ 
manity.  He  was  circumscribed  by  the  limitations  of  its 
laws,  municipal,  ecclesiastical,  and  natural.  He  willingly 
obeyed  them  all.  His  lot  was  cast  among  a  poor  and 
humble  people.  He  must  mingle  familiarly  with  them  if  he 
would  impress  them  with  the  grand  and  awful  simplicity  of 
his  philosophy.  If  he  placed  himself  above  the  laws  of  the 
land,  he  would  be  proscribed.  If  he  transcended  or  violated 
the  laws  of  nature,  his  example  would  be  lost  to  common 
humanity.  If  he  sought  the  worldly  wealth  and  secular 
power  which  was  within  his  grasp,  he  would  be  feared,  but 
not  loved,  by  the  people  whose  destiny  it  was  to  be  the  first 
recipients  of  his  teachings,  the  beneficiaries  of  his  power, 
the  witnesses  of  his  example,  the  recorders  of  his  testament. 

This  digression  from  the  main  point  of  our  present  argu¬ 
ment  seemed  necessary  in  order  to  show  how  perfectly  the 
subjective  mind  of  Jesus  was  under  the  control  of  his  objec¬ 
tive  reason.  Besides,  there  is  no  one  act  of  his  life  that 
more  clearly  discloses  his  perfect  knowledge  of  the  laws 
which  pertain  to  the  normal  exercise  of  subjective  power, 
and  his  firm  determination  never  to  exercise  that  power 
outside  of  its  legitimate  domain,  or  for  purposes  of  private 
advantage  or  emolument,  than  his  rejection  of  the  three 
temptations.  That  these  principles  actuated  him  is  shown 
by  his  every  act  and  word.  That  he  taught  them  in  their 
purity  to  his  apostles  is  shown  in  the  indignant  reply  of 
Peter  to  Simon  the  sorcerer,  who  offered  a  money  consid¬ 
eration  to  Peter  to  purchase  the  secret  of  his  power.  Know¬ 
ing  that  Simon  was  a  professional  magician,  and  suspecting 


372  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 

that  he  desired  only  to  add  to  his  repertoire  of  stock  exhi¬ 
bitions  of  occult  powers,  the  apostle  rebuked  him  in  these 
memorable  words :  — 

“  Thy  money  perish  with  thee,  because  thou  hast  thought  that 
the  gift  of  God  may  be  purchased  with  money.  Thou  hast 
neither  part  nor  lot  in  this  matter :  for  thy  heart  is  not  right  in 
the  sight  of  God.”  ^ 

I  now  recur  to  the  main  question  under  discussion  :  How 
did  Jesus  obtain  the  scientifically  accurate  and  exclusive 
knowledge  of  the  laws  pertaining  to  the  exercise  of  subjec¬ 
tive  power,  of  which  every  act  and  word  of  his  demonstrates 
his  possession? 

The  ready  and  easy  answer  of  unreasoning  faith  is, 
“  Miracle.”  But  is  it  necessary  in  this  case  to  invoke  the 
aid  of  such  an  explanation?  Clearly  not.  Without  enter¬ 
ing  upon  the  discussion  of  the  vexed  question  of  the  possible 
existence  of  the  power  to  work  a  miracle,  it  must  be  held  as 
a  self-evident  proposition  that  we  should  never  convert  an 
event  into  a  miracle  when  there  is  a  satisfactory  explanation 
within  the  known  laws  of  nature. 

In  this  case  the  necessity  does  not  exist  to  presuppose  a 
miraculous  intervention  of  Divine  power,  since  God  has 
given  to  every  human  soul  the  inherent  power,  under  certain 
conditions,  to  perceive  and  comprehend  the  fixed  laws  of 
nature.  What  those  conditions  are,  we  may  never  know. 
That  they  exist,  the  events  within  common  knowledge  amply 
demonstrate.  That  they  are  exceptional,  goes  without  say¬ 
ing.  No  one  man  has  ever  been  able  to  perceive  all  the 
laws  during  his  objective  existence.  One  perceives  the  law 
of  numbers,  another  that  of  the  harmony  of  sounds,  another 
that  of  the  harmony  of  colors,  and  so  on. 

Jesus  Christ  perceived  spiritual  law. 

That  his  intuitions  were  scientifically  exact,  so  far  as  they 
pertained  to  the  subject  of  his  physical  manifestations  in 
healing  the  sick,  is  amply  demonstrated  by  comparison  of 
what  he  did  and  said  with  the  discoveries  of  modern  science 
within  this,  the  last  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

^  Acts  viii.  20,  21. 


THE  PHYSICAL  MANIFESTATIONS  OF  CHRIST.  373 


I  have  purposely  refrained  from  commenting  on  the  ac¬ 
counts  of  his  physical  manifestations  other  than  those  of 
healing  the  sick,  for  the  reason  that  science  in  the  Western 
world  as  yet  furnishes  little  or  no  data  for  comparison.  I 
cannot  refrain,  however,  from  calling  the  attention  of  the 
reader  to  the  fact  that  a  few  years  ago  sceptics  were  just 
as  incredulous  regarding  the  biblical  accounts  of  Christ’s 
healing  the  sick  as  they  still  are  regarding  his  feeding  of 
the  multitude  on  the  five  loaves  and  the  two  fishes.  It 
must  be  remembered  that  experimental  knowledge  of  the 
occult  sciences  is  still  in  its  infancy  in  the  Western  world, 
and  that  what  is  regarded  as  a  miracle  to-day  may  be 
known  to  be  a  scientific  fact  to-morrow.  In  the  mean 
time  enough  is  known  to  the  scientific  world  to-day  to 
demonstrate  the  essential  truth  of  the  physical  history  of 
Jesus  of  Nazareth.  It  remains  to  show  what  light  the 
scientific  discoveries  of  the  nineteenth  century  shed  upon 
his  spiritual  philosophy. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 


THE  SPIRITUAL  PHILOSOPHY  OF  CHRIST. 


Even  now,  after  eighteen  centuries  of  Christianity,  we  may  be  involved 
in  some  enormous  error,  of  which  the  Christianity  of  the  future  will  make  us 
ashamed.  —  Vinet. 

The  Necessity  of  Signs  and  Wonders.  — Christ’s  Work  was  for  all 
Time.  —  His  Consummate  Wisdom.  —  Signs  and  Wonders  as 
Evidence.  —  His  Perception  of  Spiritual  Laws.  —  The  Perceptive 
Powers  of  the  Soul.  —  Propositions.  —  Presumptive  Evidence  of 
his  Knowledge  of  Spiritual  Laws.  —  Condition  precedent  to  Im¬ 
mortality. —  Faith  the  Essential  Condition.  —  The  Declarations  of 
Christ. —  He  meant  just  what  He  said. — The  Doctrines  of  the 
Church.  —  Literal  Extinction  of  the  Soul  through  Unbelief  — 
Belief  essential  to  Salvation. —  Belief  will  not  avert  the  Conse¬ 
quences  of  Sin.  —  Inherent  Probabilities.  —  The  Conscious  Exist¬ 
ence  of  the  Soul.  —  The  Law  of  Suggestion  applied. —  Scepticism 
constitutes  a  Fatal  Suggestion.  —  Phenomena  of  Hypnotism  illus¬ 
trative. —  Souls  of  Animals  have  no  Conscious  Existence;  hence 
not  Immortal.  —  Christ  as  a  Saviour  of  Souls.  —  His  Doctrine 
new  to  the  World,  but  scientifically  correct. 


HEN  Jesus  said  to  the  nobleman  of  Capernaum, 


’  ’  “  Except  ye  see  signs  and  wonders,  ye  will  not 

believe,”  he  not  only  correctly  summarized  the  then  ex¬ 
isting  attitude  of  the  public  mind  in  reference  to  the  doc¬ 
trines  which  he  proclaimed,  but  he  declared  with  prophetic 
exactitude  that  which  is  as  true  to-day  as  it  was  when  he 
uttered  it  in  Galilee.  He  said  it,  not  reproachfully,  but  as 
a  statement  of  a  condition  inevitable  from  the  nature  of 
things,  which  must  be  recognized  and  dealt  with  in  a  prac¬ 
tical  manner.  The  wisdom  shown  in  yielding  to  the  de¬ 
mand  for  “  signs  and  wonders  ”  in  that  day  is  obvious. 
Without  it  the  people  could  not  believe ;  with  it  they 


THE  SPIRITUAL  PHILOSOPHY  OF  CHRIST.  375 


could  not  doubt.  To  them  it  was  the  power  of  God, 
working  through  miracle.  It  was  to  them  a  sign  and 
symbol  of  puissance  and  authority.  To  doubt  the  word 
of  one  who  was  able  to  work  such  wonders  was  to  doubt 
the  evidence  of  their  senses.  Without  that  evidence  the 
spiritual  doctrines  of  Jesus  would  have  been  to  them  with¬ 
out  sanction  of  authority.  Logic  and  reason  would  have 
been  wasted  on  the  people  of  that  age.  Their  belief  that 
the  signs  and  wonders  were  wrought  in  defiance  of  natural 
law  was  the  only  circumstance  that  could  command  their 
respect.  Their  idea  was  that  the  only  way  in  which  God 
could  manifest  his  power  was  by  some  signal  violation  of 
his  own  laws.  To  attempt  to  show  them  that  Christ  healed 
the  sick  by  a  strict  observance  of  natural  law  would  have 
been  as  futile  as  to  attempt  to  teach  a  new-born  babe  the 
principles  of  the  differential  calculus.  To  convince  them 
of  the  fact  would  be  to  destroy  their  faith  in  the  power  of 
God.  Jesus  taught  them  all  that  they  could  understand,  — 
all  that  it  would  benefit  the  world  to  know  in  that  era  of 
civilization.  He  was  working,  not  only  for  the  people  of 
his  own  time,  but  for  all  future  generations.  He  laid  his 
foundations  broad  and  deep,  and  with  the  most  consum¬ 
mate  wisdom.  He  not  only  conferred  the  benefits  of  his 
power  upon  the  people  of  his  own  race  and  country,  but  he 
left  indubitable  evidences  of  the  truth  of  his  history  and  of 
his  doctrines  for  all  future  generations. 

Conceding,  for  the  sake  of  the  argument,  that  Jesus  pos¬ 
sessed  the  power  to  work  a  miracle,  —  that  is,  to  work  out¬ 
side  of  the  domain  of  natural  law  and  in  defiance  of  it,  — 
his  consummate  wisdom  in  refraining  from  the  exercise  of 
that  power  is  now  manifest.  If  he  had  wrought  his  won¬ 
ders  by  miracle,  only  the  eye-witnesses  of  his  works  would 
have  been  benefited  ;  for  there  would  have  been  no  means 
provided  by  which  future  generations  could  verify  his  his¬ 
tory.  But  if  he  performed  his  works  by  and  through  the 
operations  of  natural  law,  it  only  remains  for  science  to  re¬ 
discover  that  law,  in  order  to  demonstrate  the  truth  of  his 
history.  His  consummate  wisdom  is,  therefore,  manifest 


376  the  la  IV  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 

in  that  he  did  leave  a  record,  told  with  such  accuracy  of 
detail,  that  the  science  of  this  generation  can  verify  its 
truth. 

The  immediate  necessity  for  showing  signs  and  wonders 
to  his  people  was  what  he  declared  it  to  be,  —  namely, 
“  that  they  might  believe  ”  in  him ;  that  they  might  be 
convinced  of  his  power,  and  have  faith  in  his  declaration. 

But  he  had  a  grander  and  a  nobler  object  still  than  the 
conversion  of  the  few  people  of  his  own  race  and  country. 
He  foresaw  the  time  when  mankind  would  not  be  content 
to  rest  its  faith  upon  the  dictum  of  a  history  written  by 
obscure  and  unknown  men ;  when  the  world  would  refuse 
to  believe  in  the  possibility  of  miracles,  and  demand  a 
reason  for  faith  in  him,  in  his  works,  and  in  his  spiritual 
doctrines.  We  have  already  seen  how  amply  the  truth  of 
the  history  of  his  physical  manifestations  has  been  vindi¬ 
cated  by  the  discoveries  of  modern  science. 

But  he  had  a  more  far-reaching  wisdom  still.  It  would 
avail  the  world  little,  simply  to  know  the  truth  of  his  physi¬ 
cal  history,  if  by  that  means  he  could  not  demonstrate  the 
truth  of  his  spiritual  doctrines  and  philosophy.  And  it  is 
just  here  that  his  utterance  to  the  nobleman  of  Capernaum 
applies  with  equal  force  to  the  people  of  the  present  day, 
“  Except  ye  see  signs  and  wonders,  ye  will  not  believe.” 
It  is  now  apparent  that  those  signs  and  wonders  were  as 
necessary  for  the  confirmation  of  the  faith  of  the  scientific 
investigator  of  to-day  as  they  were  to  convince  the  people 
of  his  day  that  he  was  invested  with  power  and  authority. 
Without  them  there  would  have  been  no  means  by  which 
we  could  prove  even  his  probable  existence.  With  tliem 
we  are  put  into  possession  of  data  which,  by  comparison 
with  the  known  facts  of  contemporary  science,  enable  us 
to  predicate  with  moral  certainty  his  existence  and  the 
essential  truth  of  his  history. 

They  do  more.  They  enable  us  to  know  with  scientific 
certainty  that  he  was  in  possession  of  an  accurate  knowl¬ 
edge  of  the  laws  which  pertain  to  his  physical  manifesta¬ 
tions  ;  and  they  logically  justify  us  in  the  conclusion  that 


THE  SPIRITUAL  PHILOSOPHY  OF  CHRIST.  377 


by  the  same  means  he  obtained  possession  of  a  knowledge 
of  the  laws  which  pertain  to  the  conditions  of  immortal  life. 
The  subject-matter  is  the  same.  His  physical  manifesta¬ 
tions  were*  exhibitions  of  the  powers  of  the  soul.  The  phi¬ 
losophy  of  his  psychic  power  is  the  philosophy  of  the  soul 
in  its  relations  to  the  physical  man.  The  philosophy  of 
immortality  is  the  philosophy  of  the  soul  in  its  relations 
to  God.  A  change  in  its  environment  does  not  change  the 
nature  or  attributes  of  the  soul ;  and  hence  we  may  infer 
with  irresistible  logic  that  Jesus  was  as  correct  in  his  in¬ 
ferences  or  knowledge  concerning  the  life  beyond  as  he 
was  scientifically  accurate  in  his  knowledge  of  the  laws  of 
the  soul  in  its  relation  to  its  physical  environment. 

In  discussing  the  above  proposition,  the  question  as  to 
how  it  was  possible  for  Jesus  to  obtain  a  knowledge  of  the 
condition  of  the  soul  after  the  death  of  the  body  will  first 
be  considered.  It  has  already  been  shown  that  under  cer¬ 
tain  conditions  the  soul  perceives  with  absolute  accuracy 
the  fixed  laws  of  nature.  It  has  also  been  shown  that  the 
soul  does  not  possess  during  its  sojourn  in  the  flesh  the 
power  of  inductive  reasoning,  but  that  its  powers  of  rea¬ 
soning  deductively  from  any  suggested  premise  are  mar¬ 
vellous.  I  have  ventured  to  use  the  expression  in  that 
connection,  that  “  the  subjective  mind  reasons  deductively 
with  extraordinary  acumen.”  I  have  not  ventured  the  as. 
sertion  that  its  deductions  are  infallible,  though  there  is  good 
reason  to  believe  that  under  certain  conditions  the  asser¬ 
tion  would  be  substantially  correct.  The  instances  cited  of 
mathematical  prodigies  would  seem  to  bear  out  that  asser¬ 
tion.  The  power  of  perception  in  them  must  be  perfect, 
or  there  would  be  nothing  to  distinguish  them  from  other 
mathematicians.  Their  answers  to  mathematical  problems, 
to  be  remarkable,  must  be  correct.  That  they  are  correct 
would  seem  to  give  us  warrant  for  the  inference  that  under 
favorable  conditions  the  powers  of  the  soul  for  correct  de¬ 
ductive  reasoning,  or  perception  of  fixed  laws,  are  perfect. 
If  it  is  true  in  mathematics,  it  must  be  true  in  all  other 
matters  governed  by  fixed  laws,  especially  since  all  the 


378  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 

forces  of  nature  are  correlated,  and  all  are  governed  by 
mathematical  laws. 

It  has  also  been  shown  that  the  deductions  of  the  sub¬ 
jective  mind  are  always  logically  accurate,  even  though  the 
premises  may  be  false.  Any  one  who  has  had  experience 
in  dealing  with  persons  in  a  hypnotic  trance  will  bear  me 
out  in  that  statement. 

The  question  now  arises,  What  are  the  conditions  neces¬ 
sary  to  give  us  assurance  of  infallible  deductions  from  given 
premises?  Before  proceeding  to  discuss  that  matter,  it  is 
proper  to  premise  that  it  is  difficult,  in  dealing  with  the 
subtle  forces  of  the  subjective  mind,  to  draw  a  distinct  line 
between  its  powers  of  perception  of  fixed  laws  and  its 
powers  of  deduction  from  given  premises.  Its  perceptions 
seem  to  be  instantaneous,  and  to  preclude  the  idea  of  the 
employment  of  any  such  processes  of  reasoning  as  are  known 
to  the  logic  of  objective  education. 

The  distinction  seems  to  be  this :  If  the  premises  are 
given  from  an  extraneous  source,  in  the  form  of  a  sugges¬ 
tion,  the  processes  of  deductive  reasoning  are  employed. 
If  the  premises  are  the  result  of  intuitive  perception,  the 
conclusion  is  also  perceived  simultaneously.  In  such  a 
case  the  whole  law  pertaining  to  the  subject-matter  is  per¬ 
ceived  at  once ;  and  it  is  inconceivable  to  the  finite  mind 
how  any  processes  of  reasoning  have  been  employed.  Thus, 
in  the  case  of  Zerah  Colburn,  his  answers  to  mathematical 
problems  of  the  most  intricate  character  were  given  instan¬ 
taneously,  and  he  was  never  conscious  of  employing  any 
process  of  calculation  whatever.  Moreover,  his  answers 
were  always  correct. 

Now,  whether  the  processes  of  deductive  reasoning  em¬ 
ployed  by  the  subjective  mind  lead  to  infallible  results,  it  is 
not  my  purpose  to  discuss.  It  is  certain  that  they  are  mar¬ 
vellously  accurate,  whether  the  premises  are  true  or  false ; 
but  whether  they  may  be  relied  upon  as  always  correct 
when  the  premises  are  true,  I  am  not  prepared  to  say  from 
the  data  before  me ;  nor  is  it  important,  for  my  present 
purpose,  to  know. 


THE  SPIRITUAL  PHILOSOPHY  OF  CHRIST  379 


It  is  certain,  however,  that  where  the  powers  of  percep¬ 
tion  are  employed,  under  proper  conditions,  the  conclusions 
are  infallible. 

We  have  now  a  starting-point  from  which  we  may  form 
a  correct  estimate  of  the  scientific  accuracy  of  the  spiritual 
philosophy  of  Jesus. 

If  we  are  to  concede  that  his  doctrines  are  true,  it  is 
obvious  that  we  must  demonstrate  the  correctness  of  the 
following  propositions  :  — 

1.  That  Jesus  was  endowed  with  the  power  to  obtain  a 
perfect  knowledge  of  spiritual  law  by  perception  or  intuition. 

2.  To  demonstrate  this  we  must  show,  (a)  that  his 
knowledge  of  spiritual  law  was  scientifically  accurate  ;  and 
(d)  that  it  could  not  have  been  obtained  by  the  ordinary 
processes  of  objective  education. 

3.  To  show  that  his  knowledge  was  accurate,  it  must  be 
demonstrated  that  the  conclusions  arrived  at  by  the  induc¬ 
tive  processes  of  modern  science  are  identical  with  the 
doctrines  that  he  proclaimed. 

It  has  already  been  shown  that,  as  far  as  his  physical 
manifestations  are  concerned,  each  of  the  statements  em¬ 
braced  in  the  foregoing  propositions  is  true.  It  has  been 
shown  that  he  must  have  had  an  intuitive  perception  of  the 
law  of  healing  by  subjective  power,  for  the  reasons,  first, 
that  in  the  state  of  occult  knowledge  existing  in  his  day,  it 
was  impossible  that  he  could  have  obtained  his  knowledge 
by  means  of  objective  education ;  and,  secondly,  that  his 
knowledge  of  the  law  of  healing  was  scientifically  accurate, 
as  shown  by  the  fact  (a)  that  he  proclaimed  and  con¬ 
stantly  reiterated  the  essential  condition  of  the  exercise  of 
the  power  of  healing  precisely  as  it  is  known  at  the  present 
day  ;  (/5)  that  he  constantly  practised  by  the  methods  known 
at  the  present  day  to  be  the  best ;  (c)  that  he  surrounded 
himself  and  his  patients  with  the  best  attainable  aids  to  the 
exercise  of  his  powers,  —  precisely  such  aids,  the  utility  of 
which  has  been  demonstrated  by  modern  practice ;  and 
(d)  that  he  constantly  sought  to  secure  the  mental  environ¬ 
ment  which  is  now  known  to  be  of  the  first  importance,  if  not 


380  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 

absolutely  essential,  to  successful  mental  healing.  In  short, 
it  has  been  shown  that  he  must  have  understood  every  prin¬ 
ciple  and  every  law  of  mental  therapeutics,  the  rediscovery 
of  which  has  distinguished  the  present  century. 

Reasoning,  therefore,  from  the  premises  which  have  thus 
been  established,  we  have  the  logical  right  to  infer  that  he 
understood  all  the  laws  which  pertain  to  the  soul.  If  he 
understood  the  laws  which  govern  it  in  its  relations  to  its 
physical  environment,  it  is  fair  to  presume  that  he  knew  the 
laws  which  pertain  to  its  continued  existence  after  it  is  freed 
from  the  trammels  of  the  flesh.  Without  any  further  proofs, 
therefore,  we  have  the  logical  right  to  consider  the  one  as 
presumptive  evidence  of  the  other. 

If  I  stopped  right  here,  I  might  reasonably  claim  to  have 
established  the  fact  that  the  religion  of  Christ  is  founded  upon 
a  purely  scientific  basis.  But  I  do  not  intend  to  rest  content 
with  mere  presumptive  evidence.  I  propose  to  show  that 
his  knowledge  of  the  law  of  immortality  did  not  rest  upon  in¬ 
ferential  deductions  from  the  facts  known  by  him  regarding 
the  relations  of  the  soul  to  its  physical  environment.  I 
propose  to  show  that  the  world  is  now  in  possession  of  facts 
from  which  we  can  reason  inductively  up  to  the  same  con¬ 
clusions  which  he  proclaimed,  ex  cathed7-a,  as  the  law  of 
immortality. 

Before  proceeding  to  do  so,  we  must  first  inquire  just 
what  he  taught.  In  doing  so  I  intend  to  confine  myself  to 
the  one  essential  proposition  which  he  made  regarding  the 
condition  essential  to  the  soul’s  salvation ;  for  I  do  not 
propose  to  be  led  into  a  discussion  of  the  great  fabric  of 
doctrinal  religion  which  has  been  built  up  since  he  ascended 
to  the  Father.  I  leave  that  to  the  theologian.  What  I  intend 
to  show  is,  that,  viewed  from  a  purely  scientific  standpoint, 
the  declaration  which  he  made  regarding  the  condition  pre¬ 
cedent  to  the  salvation  of  the  soul  is  necessarily  true. 

The  first  question,  therefore,  is.  What  did  Jesus  declare  to 
be  the  one  essential  condition  necessary  to  the  attainment  of 
immortal  life  ?  When  I  say,  “  necessary  to  the  attaimtient 
of  immortal  life,”  I  mean  literally  what  I  say  ;  for  I  hold  that 


THE  SPIRITUAL  PHILOSOPHY  OF  CHRIST.  38 1 

if  there  is  one  principle  laid  down  by  the  Master  that  is 
more  clearly  defined  than  any  other,  it  is  contained  in  his 
declaration,  so  often  repeated,  that  faith  —  belief —  is  the 
one  essential  condition  precedent  to  the  continued  life  of 
the  soul  after  the  death  of  the  body ;  and  that,  in  the  ab¬ 
sence  of  belief  in  immortality,  the  soul  itself  will  necessarily 
perish.  That  this  was  his  doctrine,  literally  interpreted,  no 
one  will  deny.  That  he  meant  exactly  what  he  said,  I  shall 
attempt  to  show.  That  his  declarations  to  that  effect  were 
statements  of  a  scientific  truth,  I  shall  attempt  to  demon¬ 
strate  by  the  process  of  inductive  reasoning  from  facts 
known  to  modern  science. 

Before  proceeding  with  the  main  argument,  I  hasten  to 
say  that  the  doctrine  of  future  rewards  and  punishments 
will  be  left  untouched.  That  question  will  stand  just  where 
it  has  always  stood,  —  for  each  one  to  decide  for  himself 
according  to  his  own  interpretation  of  the  Scriptures  on 
that  point,  or  his  own  sense  of  Divine  Justice.  I  shall  not 
even  attempt  to  destroy  the  comfort  and  consolation  which 
many  good  persons  seem  to  derive  from  their  belief  in  eter¬ 
nal  fire.  My  only  object  is  to  show,  from  a  purely  scientific 
standpoint,  that  the  history  and  essential  doctrines  of  Jesus 
are  confirmed  by  the  facts  and  necessary  inductions  of 
modern  science,  and,  incidentally,  to  harmonize  certain 
passages  of  the  New  Testament  which,  through  misinter¬ 
pretation,  have  seemed  to  be  at  variance. 

According  to  the  Gospel  of  Saint  John,  the  first  declara¬ 
tion  by  Jesus  of  his  doctrine  of  immortality  was  made  to 
Nicodemus  in  the  following  words  :  — 

“And  as  Moses  lifted  up  the  serpent  in  the  wilderness,  even 
so  must  the  Son  of  Man  be  lifted  up  : 

“  That  whosoever  believeth  in  him  should  not  perish,  but 
have  eternal  life. 

“  For  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten 
Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  should  not  perish,  but 
have  everlasting  life.”  1 


*  John  iii.  14-16. 


382  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 

Again,  in  John  vi.  40,  47,  he  makes  the  same  declaration 
in  the  following  clear-cut  sentences  :  — 

“  And  this  is  the  will  of  him  that  sent  me,  that  every  one 
which  seeth  the  Son,  and  believeth  on  him,  may  have  everlast¬ 
ing  life.  .  .  . 

“  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  He  that  believeth  on  me  hath 
everlasting  life.” 

Again :  — 

“Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you.  He  that  heareth  my  word, 
and  believeth  on  him  that  sent  me,  hath  everlasting  life,  and 
shall  not  come  into  condemnation,  but  is  passed  from  death 
unto  life.”i 

“  I  am  the  resurrection,  and  the  life :  he  that  believeth  in  me, 
though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live : 

“  And  whosoever  liveth  and  believeth  in  me  shall  never  die.”* 

Other  passages  might  be  quoted  to  the  same  effect,  but 
these  must  suffice. 

The  question  now  is.  Did  Jesus  mean  just  what  he  said; 
or  were  these  idle  words,  having  no  significance  taken  in 
their  literal  sense?  Jesus  was  not  in  the  habit  of  uttering 
idle  words,  or  of  making  statements  that  did  not  contain 
the  elements  of  eternal  truth.  If  these  are  exceptions,  they 
are  the  only  ones  recorded  in  his  history.  I  hold  that  they 
are  not  exceptions,  but  that  they  are  authoritative  state¬ 
ments  of  a  literal  scientific  truth. 

I  have  already  shown  that  in  formulating  the  doctrine  of 
faith  as  the  essential  condition  prerequisite  to  successful 
healing,  he  gave  utterance  to  a  scientific  principle  which  it 
has  taken  nineteen  hundred  years  for  the  world  to  under¬ 
stand  and  appreciate.  It  is  equally  true  that,  in  formulating 
the  proposition  that  belief  is  the  essential  prerequisite  to 
the  attainment  of  immortality,  he  gave  words  to  a  scientific 
principle  of  far  greater  importance  than  the  other. 

I  am  aware  that  one  portion  of  the  Christian  Church  be¬ 
lieves  that  by  the  words  “  eternal  life  ”  Jesus  meant  that 
reward  in  heaven  which  is  promised  to  the  just,  and  that  by 


'  lohn  V.  24. 


*  John  xi.  25,  26. 


THE  SPIRITUAL  PHILOSOPHY  OF  CHRIST.  383 

“  eternal  death  ”  he  simply  meant  the  punishment  which 
the  wicked  must  undergo  for  their  sins.  On  the  other 
hand,  there  are  those  of  the  Church  who  hold  that  the 
literal  death  of  the  soul  is  the  punishment  meted  out  to  all 
who  die  in  their  sins,  while  “eternal  life”  is  the  reward 
promised  to  all  who  are  good.  Neither  of  these  sects  has, 
however,  satisfactorily  explained  to  unbelievers  why  it  is 
that  belief  or  unbelief  enters  as  a  factor  in  the  case,  since 
man  is  not  supposed  to  be  able  to  command  his  belief. 

It  is  to  the  reconciliation  of  these  conflicting  theories  that 
I  shall  now  address  myself. 

The  first  proposition  of  my  theory  is  that  the  death,  or 
practical  extinction,  of  the  soul  as  a  conscious  entity  is  the 
necessary  result  of  unbelief  in  immortality. 

The  second  proposition  is  that  the  soul,  having  attained 
immortality  through  belief,  is  then  subject  to  the  law  of 
rewards  and  punishments  “  according  to  the  deeds  done  in 
the  body.” 

The  same  propositions  are  more  sententiously  expressed 
in  Romans  ii.  12  :  “For  as  many  as  have  sinned  without 
law  shall  also  perish  without  law :  and  as  many  as  have 
sinned  in  the  law  shall  be  judged  by  the  law.” 

In  other  words,  the  condition  precedent  to  the  attain¬ 
ment  of  immortality,  or  salvation,  —  that  is,  the  saving  of  the 
soul  from  death,  —  is  belief.  The  condition  precedent  to 
the  attainment  of  eternal  bliss  and  the  avoidance  of  the 
punishments  incident  to  sin,  is  righteousness. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  if  it  can  be  shown  that  these 
two  propositions  are  necessarily  true,  we  shall  avoid,  on  the 
one  hand,  the  incongruous  idea  that  belief  will  atone  for  all 
sin ;  and,  on  the  other,  the  equally  incongruous  idea  that 
the  extinction  of  the  soul  is  the  necessary  consequence  of 
all  sin. 

In  discussing  the  first  proposition  we  shall  first  inquire 
what  are  the  inherent  probabilities  regarding  the  meaning 
which  Christ  attached  to  the  words  which  are  quoted  above. 
Is  it  probable,  or  even  possible,  that  he  could  have  taught 
that  belief  alone  was  a  sufficient  atonement  for  the  sins  of 


384  the  law  of  psychic  phenomena. 


the  wicked?  Knowing,  as  all  must  know  who  have  fol¬ 
lowed  his  career  and  noted  his  sayings,  his  utter  abhorrence 
of  all  wickedness ;  reading,  as  all  may  read,  his  sublime 
code  of  ethics  and  morals,  together  with  the  awful  maledic¬ 
tions  pronounced  upon  all  violations  of  that  code,  and  the 
punishments  which  he  held  before  the  world  as  a  conse¬ 
quence  of  sin, —  it  is  simply  impossible  rationally  to  conceive 
the  idea  that  he  taught  that  all  consequences  of  a  life  of  sin 
could  be  avoided  by  belief.  It  is  a  self-evident  proposition 
that  a  man  may  believe  in  Christ,  may  believe  in  immor¬ 
tality,  and  at  the  same  time  be  steeped  in  all  manner  of 
wickedness  and  crime.  No  more  devout  believers  can  be 
found  in  all  Christendom  than  those  of  an  unfortunate  race 
in  America  who  are  proverbial  alike  for  their  devoted  piety 
and  for  their  propensity  to  steal  on  their  way  home  from 
prayer-meeting ;  unless  we  except  the  bandits  of  Italy,  who 
are  as  noted  for  their  strict  observance  of  the  forms  of  the 
Church  as  they  are  for  the  fact  that  they  live  by  the  per¬ 
petration  of  murder  and  robbery.  Unfortunately,  our  illus¬ 
trations  cannot  be  drawn  exclusively  from  any  one  race  or 
nation.  In  every  Christian  society  there  are  all  too  many 
devout  believers  who  live  in  constant  violation  of  every 
law,  human  and  Divine.  It  is  an  insult  to  the  intelligence  of 
Christ  and  of  humanity  to  hold  the  monstrous  doctrine  that 
the  belief  of  these  men  can  shield  them  from  the  punish¬ 
ment  due  to  infamy,  or  that  they  can  be  adequately  pun¬ 
ished,  “according  to  their  deeds,”  by  annihilation. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  impossible  to  believe  that  Christ 
summarized  all  the  virtues,  human  and  Divine,  in  the  one 
word  belief,  or  that  by  the  employment  of  that  word  he 
simply  meant  that  all  who  live  pure  and  virtuous  lives 
before  God  and  man  will  be  entitled  to  the  rewards  of 
heaven.  If  this  was  all  that  he  meant,  he  taught  nothing 
new,  either  to  the  Jewish  nation  or  to  any  other  civilized 
nation  then  in  existence ;  for  the  Hebrews  had  been  taught 
the  doctrine  of  future  rewards  and  punishments,  of  heaven 
and  of  hell,  long  before  the  appearance  of  the  Messiah.  It 
is  true  that  Moses  did  not  teach  the  Israelites  any  doctrine 


THE  SPIRITUAL  PHILOSOPHY  OF  CHRIST.  385 


of  the  future  world,  and  very  vague  mention  is  made  of  it 
in  the  later  books  of  the  Old  Testament.  It  is  a  historical 
fact,  nevertheless,  that  before  the  advent  of  Jesus  the  Jews 
had  become  imbued  with  the  Greek  doctrine  of  Hades, 
which  was  an  intermediate  waiting  station  between  this  life 
and  the  judgment.  In  this  were  situated  both  Paradise  and 
Gehenna,  the  one  on  the  right  and  the  other  on  the  left, 
and  into  these  two  compartments  the  spirits  of  the  dead 
were  separated,  according  to  their  deserts.  Jesus  found 
this  doctrine  already  in  existence,  and  in  enforcing  his 
moral  precepts  and  in  his  parables  he  employed  the  symbols 
which  the  people  understood,  neither  denying  nor  affirming 
their  literal  verity.  I  remark,  therefore,  that  in  simply 
teaching  the  doctrine  of  future  rewards  and  punishments  he 
taught  nothing  new ;  and,  in.  that  sense,  he  is  no  more  en¬ 
titled  to  be  considered  the  Saviour  of  mankind  than  would 
be  any  other  successful  teacher  of  the  same  doctrine. 

We  are,  therefore,  forced  back  to  a  literal  interpretation 
of  the  statements  under  consideration.  In  this  sense  they 
can  have  but  one  meaning,  and  that  is,  that  in  the  absence  of 
belief  in  inimortalii}\  the  soul  cannot  have  a  conscious  exist¬ 
ence.  Reasoning  from  known  facts,  there  is  no  other 
rational  conclusion.  In  explanation  of  the  meaning  of 
“  conscious  existence  ”  in  the  sense  in  which  I  have  em¬ 
ployed  that  phrase,  it  is  only  necessary  to  direct  the  atten¬ 
tion  of  the  intelligent  reader  to  the  accepted  definition  and 
doctrine  of  consciousness.  “  In  taking  a  comprehensive 
survey  of  the  mental  phenomena,”  says  Sir  William  Hamil¬ 
ton,  “  these  all  seem  to  comprise  one  essential  element,  or 
to  be  possible  only  under  one  necessary  condition.  This 
element  or  condition  is  consciousness,  or  the  knowledge 
that  I  —  that  the  ego  exists,  in  some  determinate  state.”  ^ 
Again,  he  compares  consciousness  to  “  an  internal  light,  by 
means  of  which,  and  which  alone,  what  passes  in  the  mind 
is  rendered  visible.”  ^ 

The  existence  of  a  man  without  the  knowledge  of  sensa¬ 
tions  or  of  mental  operations  would  be  one  without  con- 
^  Metaphysics,  p  126. 


2  Ibid. 


386  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


sciousness,  and  would  constitute  a  purely  vegetative  existence 
as  long  as  it  continued.  One  can  readily  understand  this 
condition  in  the  objective  mind  from  the  observation  of 
physical  phenomena.  It  is  equally  comprehensible  how  the 
subjective  mind,  or  soul,  may  be  deprived  of  a  conscious 
existence  when  we  remember  the  fundamental  law  of  its 
being,  the  law  of  suggestion.  We  have  already  seen  how 
the  law  of  suggestion  operates  upon  the  soul  in  cases  of 
cataleptic  trance,  where  the  suggestion  is  made  that  the 
patient  is  dead.  In  that  case  the  suggestion  was  believed 
implicitly,  and  the  preparations  for  the  funeral  did  not  dis¬ 
turb  the  equanimity  of  the  patient  in  the  least.  Nor  did 
the  incongruity  of  the  situation  suggest  itself  to  the  patient ; 
namely,  the  idea  of  being  dead  and  of  thinking  of  being 
dead  at  the  same  time. 

The  suggestion  to  the  patient’s  subjective  mind  that  he 
was  dead,  rendered  that  mind  unconscious  of  its  own  mental 
operations,  and  he  was,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  dead. 

This  is,  obviously,  but  a  feeble  illustration  of  the  prin¬ 
ciple  involved.  It  is,  however,  sufficient  to  show  how  the 
soul  may  be  deprived  of  a  conscious  existence.  A  life-long 
scepticism  regarding  the  existence  of  the  soul,  and  a  conse¬ 
quent  disbelief  in  immortality,  constitute  a  suggestion  that 
must  operate  to  deprive  the  soul  of  a  conscious  existence, 
if  the  law  of  suggestion  is  universal  in  its  operations. 

The  phenomena  of  experimental  hypnotism  also  demon¬ 
strate  the  truth  of  the  proposition.  Every  hypnotist  knows 
that  a  suggestion  to  a  deeply  hypnotized  subject  that  he  is 
dead  will  produce  a  condition  of  such  profound  lethargy 
or  catalepsy  as  closely  to  simulate  death,  and  were  the 
impression  not  removed,  it  would  doubtless  end  in  death. 
When  the  subject  remembers  what  has  passed,  he  testifies 
that  he  believed  himself  dead,  and  saw  no  incongruity  in 
the  situation.  A  settled  belief  that  the  death  of  the  body 
ends  all,  and  the  absence  of  any  belief  or  knowledge  of  the 
subject,  must  each  operate  to  the  same  end. 

It  is  this  principle  which  constitutes  the  difference  be¬ 
tween  men  and  animals,  and  which  gives  the  one  the  power 


THE  SPIRITUAL  PHILOSOPHY  OF  CHRIST.  387 


and  potency  of  immortality,  and  leaves  the  other  to  perish. 
Animals,  in  common  with  men,  are  possessed  of  a  duality 
of  mind  j  the  subjective  in  the  former  being  proportionately 
stronger  than  in  the  latter,  as  is  shown  in  their  stronger  in¬ 
stincts.  Objective  reason  being  weak,  and  the  power  of 
speech  being  absent,  there  is  no  possibility  of  the  idea  or 
suggestion  of  immortality  being  imparted  to  the  animal. 
Hence  its  soul  can  have  no  conscious  existence  after  the 
death  of  the  body.  It  has  the  instinct  of  self-preservation 
in  common  with  man,  but  it  is  the  preservation  of  the  life 
of  the  body.  If  the  animal  has  any  definite  idea  regard¬ 
ing  life  and  death,  it  all  pertains  to  the  body.  An  animal 
certainly  can  have  no  idea  of  the  possession  of  a  soul, 
much  less  of  its  immortality. 

When,  therefore,  Jesus  proclaimed  the  law  that  belief  was 
a  condition  precedent  to  immortal  life,  he  formulated  a 
scientific  proposition  then  new  to  the  world,  and  at  the 
same  time  proclaimed  himself  master  of  the  science  of  the 
soul.  He  had  declared  the  law  of  faith  as  it  applied  to 
the  power  of  the  soul  to  heal  the  sick,  and  he  knew  that 
the  same  law  governed  the  soul  in  its  relations  to  eternal 
life.  He  did  not  formulate  his  propositions  in  the  terms 
demanded  by  the  science  of  the  nineteenth  century,  nor 
did  he  give  such  reasons  for  his  conclusions  as  inductive 
processes  require.  The  time  for  that  had  not  yet  come. 
Reasons  would  not  have  been  appreciated  in  his  day  and 
generation.  Nor  was  it  necessary  for  the  accomplishment 
of  his  mission  —  which  was  to  proclaim  the  law  of  immor¬ 
tality  —  to  show  that  the  man  whose  soul  has  not  been 
aroused  to  consciousness  dies  as  the  brute  dieth.  This 
was  his  mission ;  and  in  so  far  as  he  has  accomplished  that 
mission  is  he  entitled  to  be  called  the  Saviour  of  the  souls 
of  mankind.  He  preached  no  new  doctrine  other  than  this. 
His  code  of  ethics  was  sublime  and  godlike  in  its  purity  and 
simplicity,  but  it  was  not  new.  He  taught  the  doctrine  of 
future  rewards  and  punishments  ;  but  the  symbols  which  he 
employed  to  describe  the  condition  of  the  soul  after  death  — 
the  rewards  bestowed  and  the  punishments  inflicted  —  were 


388  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMEHA. 


those  which  were  current  among  the  people  with  whom  his 
earthly  lot  was  cast ;  nor  does  this  fact  argue  for  or  against 
his  omniscience.  It  would,  obviously,  have  been  impos¬ 
sible  for  him  to  convey  to  the  world  any  adequate  idea  of 
the  modes  of  spiritual  existence  in  terms  which  could  be 
understood.  He  used  the  current  coin  of  expression  to 
convey  to  mankind  the  broad  idea  that  the  soul  that  is 
“saved”  to  immortal  life  through  “belief”  will  then  be 
punished  or  rewarded  according  to  the  deeds  done  in  the 
body.  It  would,  obviously,  have  been  useless  and  confusing 
to  his  hearers  had  he  attempted  to  employ  any  new  symbols, 
or  any  language  to  which  they  were  not  accustomed,  to 
convey  that  idea. 

His  mission,  therefore,  as  the  Saviour  of  the  souls  of  men 
was  accomplished  when  he  revealed  to  the  world  the  essen¬ 
tial  condition  of  immortal  life.  His  mission  as  a  moral 
teacher  was  secondary  in  importance.  The  one  doctrine 
was  new,  the  other  old.  The  one  was  a  scientific  fact,  the 
other  a  code  of  ethics.  The  one  was  essential  to  the 
attainment  of  man’s  ultimate  destiny  as  an  immortal  entity, 
the  other  a  standard  of  right  and  justice  in  this  world, 
and  a  condition  of  felicity  in  the  world  to  come. 

It  is  said  that  when  Hillel,  who  flourished  in  the  century 
preceding  Christ,  was  asked  whether  he  could  give  the 
whole  Jewish  law  in  one  sentence,  he  answered:  “Yes, 
perfectly  well.  What  you  do  not  want  anybody  to  do  to 
you,  do  not  you  to  them.  That  is  the  whole  law ;  every¬ 
thing  else  is  only  commentary.” 

The  same  may  be  truly  said  of  the  New  Testament  doc¬ 
trines  and  the  law  of  faith.  The  only  thing  wholly  new  was 
the  doctrine  of  faith.  That  is  the  whole  law ;  everything 
else  is  commentary. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

THE  MISSION  OF  CHRIST  ;  FUTURE  REWARDS  AND  PUNISHMENTS. 

The  Success  of  Christ’s  Mission.  —  Chaotic  State  of  Spiritual  Phi¬ 
losophy  in  Ifis  Time.  —  The  Various  Doctrines  in  Vogue.  —  Jesus 
the  first  to  simplify  the  Doctrine  of  Immortality.  —  He  gave  it  a 
Definite  Status  in  Philosophy.  —  The  Doctrine  of  Future  Rewards 
and  Punishments.  —  God  will  “  render  to  every  Man  according  to 
His  Deeds.” —  Spiritual  Penalties  for  Violations  of  Spiritual  Law. 
—  The  Sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost.  —  The  Sin  of  Unbelief.  —  The 
Status  of  a  Lost  Soul.  —  Possible  Reincarnation.  —  The  Means 
of  Punishment  for  Sin.  —  Affections.  —  Conscience.  —  Memory.  — 
General  Conclusions.  —  Scientific  Basis  of  Christianity. 

IT  is  often  charged  by  the  sceptical  world  that  the  mis¬ 
sion  of  Jesus  has  thus  far  proved  a  failure,  for  that 
only  about  one  third  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  have 
ever  heard  the  name  of  Christ ;  that  of  Christian  nations 
but  a  limited  proportion  of  the  inhabitants  belong  to  the 
Christian  Church ;  and  that  of  the  church  membership 
there  is  but  a  limited  number  who  so  live  as  to  entitle 
them  to  the  rewards  of  heaven.  Measured  by  the  com¬ 
mon  idea  of  what  constitutes  salvation,  there  may  be  good 
ground  for  that  criticism.  But  measured  by  the  number  of 
those  who  believe  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul ;  by  the 
number  who  have  a  hope  of  a  life  beyond  the  grave ;  by 
the  number  who  have  a  consciousness  of  the  existence 
within  them  of  the  transcendental  ego  ;  or  by  the  number 
of  those  who  have  risen,  directly  or  indirectly,  through  the 
teachings  of  Christ  so  far  above  the  level  of  the  brute  crea¬ 
tion  as  to  have  a  consciousness  of  the  possibility  of  immor¬ 
tal  life,  and  a  consequent  hope  and  subjective  belief  in 


390  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


immortality,  —  his  mission  has  proved  the  grandest  success 
recorded  in  the  history  of  missionary  effort. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  when  he  came  into  the 
world  the  doctrine  of  immortal  life  held  a  very  vague  and 
uncertain  place  in  the  philosophy  of  civilized  mankind.  I 
do  not  say  that  the  doctrine  of  immortal  life  was  unknown, 
but  it  was  undefined,  and  so  tinctured  with  finite  con¬ 
ceptions,  and  limited  by  the  uncertain  boundaries  of  a 
hundred  different  systems  of  fantastic  philosophy,  that  it 
did  not,  and  could  not,  form  a  basis  of  rational  hope  or 
intelligent  promise. 

Thus,  among  the  Chinese  of  that  day  (i),  the  doctrines 
of  Confucius  held  the  most  prominent  place.  His  was  a 
system  which  might  be  called  a  parent-worship,  in  which 
virtue  was  rewarded  and  vice  punished  in  the  individuals, 
or  in  their  posterity,  on  earth,  no  promise  of  immortality 
being  held  out.  (2)  The  sect  of  Rationalists,  founded  by 
Lautsz  in  the  sixth  century  before  Christ,  taught  the  ema¬ 
nation  of  all  good  beings  from  the  Bosom  of  Reason,  and 
their  absorption  thither  for  an  eternal  existence,  while  the 
bad  were  doomed  to  successive  births  and  many  sorrows. 
(3)  Another  sect  held  that  the  principle  of  all  things  is  but 
a  vacuum,  —  nothing,  —  from  which  all  things  have  sprung, 
and  to  which  all  must  return. 

The  Hindoo  doctrine  was  substantially  the  same  as  it  is 
now ;  and  it  is  so  well  known  as  not  to  require  a  particular 
statement,  further  than  to  say  that  its  disciples  believe  in 
successive  incarnations  of  the  soul,  and  its  final  absorption 
into  the  incorporeal  nature  of  Brahm. 

The  Persians  believed  in  the  doctrine  of  hell  for  the 
wicked,  and  of  paradise  for  the  good ;  but  held  that  all  the 
wicked  would  eventually  be  purified  by  fire.  It  was  thought 
that  the  fires  were  hot  enough  to  purify  the  most  abomi¬ 
nable  soul  in  about  three  days. 

Herodotus  tells  us  that  the  Egyptians  were  the  first  to 
defend  the  doctrine  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  and  he 
says  that  they  believed  in  its  transmigration  through  various 
animal  bodies  for  a  period  of  three  thousand  years  before 
its  return  to  a  human  body. 


THE  MISSION  OF  CHRIST. 


391 


Of  the  Grecian  schools,  the  Pythagoreans  held  that  the 
soul  is  eternal,  —  that  is,  uncreated  and  indestructible ; 
that  no  real  entity  is  either  made  or  destroyed.  The 
Eleatics  held  practically  the  same  doctrine.  The  Ionics 
taught  that  the  soul  was  reabsorbed  into  the  Divine  reason. 
The  Stoics  believed  in  the  periodical  destruction  of  all 
things  by  fire,  when  the  good  will  be  absorbed  and  the 
wicked  perish.  The  Epicurean  faith  was  well  described 
by  Paul  in  the  phrase,  “  Let  us  eat  and  drink,  for  to¬ 
morrow  we  die.”  The  Pyrrhonists  were  the  sceptics  of  the 
age,  and  doubted  everything.  Socrates  taught  the  doc¬ 
trine  of  immortality  for  the  good,  the  virtuous,  and  the 
wise.  The  incurably  bad  are  “  hurled  into  Tartarus,  whence 
they  never  come  forth;”  whilst  those  who  can  be  cured 
are  subjected  to  needful  punishments  before  being  admitted 
into  the  mansions  of  the  blest.  Plato  was  a  Pythagorean, 
with  certain  bizarre  notions  of  his  own,  such  as  the  migra¬ 
tion  of  souls  through  various  brute  and  human  forms ; 
and  he  believed  that  even  the  duration  of  divine  work  is 
limited. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  when  Jesus  appeared  on  earth 
he  found  the  philosophy  of  the  soul  in  a  very  chaotic  state. 
It  was  his  mission  to  bring  order  out  of  chaos,  and  to  pro¬ 
claim  the  true  philosophy ;  to  declare  the  conditions  of 
immortality,  and  point  the  way  to  eternal  happiness.  That 
he  simplified  the  doctrine  of  immortality  into  a  system  so 
plain  that  “  the  wayfaring  man,  though  a  fool,  need  not  err 
therein,”  no  one  will  deny.  Its  grand  simplicity,  when 
placed  in  contrast  with  the  complicated  doctrines  of  all 
other  systems  of  religious  philosophy,  ancient  or  modern, 
places  upon  it  the  stamp  of  inherent  probability ;  for  scien¬ 
tific  truth  is  always  simple  and  free  from  complication.  It 
was  Jesus  who  gave  the  doctrine  of  immortality  a  distinct 
and  definite  form  and  a  permanent  place  in  the  philosophy 
of  the  civilized  world.  It  was  he  who  first  proclaimed  the 
fundamental  law  underlying  the  science  of  the  soul.  It 
was  from  his  words,  spoken  to  a  few  humble  followers  in 
an  obscure  corner  of  the  earth,  that  the  doctrine  has  spread 


392  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


throughout  all  the  civilized  world.  From  the  centres  of 
civilization  the  Church  has  sent  its  missionaries,,  its  repre¬ 
sentatives  of  the  Master,  among  all  peoples,  civilized  and 
savage,  preaching  the  gospel  of  immortality  to  all  mankind. 
Its  influence  is  not  confined  to  those  who  believe  in  the 
tenets  of  the  Christian  Church,  nor  even  to  those  who  have 
heard  ,the  name  of  Christ.  It  has  spread,  through  some 
subtle,  unseen  power  and  potency,  until  it  permeates  every 
fibre  of  human  society,  and  constitutes  the  promise  of  every 
religion,  the  hope  of  all  humanity. 

I  have,  in  other  chapters,  pointed  out  some  of  the  proofs 
which  science  affords  of  the  doctrine  of  immortality,  and 
of  the  verity  of  the  history  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  I  have 
shown  that  every  known  fact  which  bears  upon  the  subject 
points  to  the  continued  life  of  the  soul  after  the  death  of 
the  body.  I  have  shown  that  the  discoveries  of  modern 
science  demonstrate  the  fact  that  Jesus  was  in  possession 
of  a  complete  knowledge  of  the  science  of  the  soul  in  its 
relations  to  its  physical  environment.  I  have  shown  that 
all  known  facts  bearing  upon  the  subject  go  to  prove  that 
he  also  had  a  knowledge  of  its  laws  in  its  relations  to  a 
purely  spiritual  existence. 

We  have  then,  first,  an  array  of  demonstrable  facts  which 
irresistibly  lead  to  the  conclusion  that  the  soul  survives  the 
body ;  secondly,  another  array  of  facts  which  prove  that  it 
was  possible  for  an  exceptionally  endowed  person  to  per¬ 
ceive  the  laws  of  the  soul ;  thirdly,  an  array  of  facts  which 
demonstrate  that  Jesus  did  understand  those  laws  as  far  as 
they  pertain  to  the  soul’s  relations  to  the  physical  man  j 
fourthly,  we  have  facts  which  show  that  he  understood  the 
laws  of  the  soul  in  its  relations  to  the  spiritual  world,  and 
the  essential  conditions  of  its  conscious  existence  after  the 
death  of  the  body ;  and  fifthly,  we  have  in  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment  a  record  of  the  acts  which  demonstrated  his  knowledge 
of  the  subject,  as  well  as  of  his  solemn  and  repeated  dec¬ 
larations  of  the  laws  which  pertain  to  that  subject. 

When  we  consider  together  all  these  cumulative  proofs, 
it  may  safely  be  said  that  there  are  few  principles  of  nature 


THE  MISSION  OF  CHRIST.  393 

that  are  more  clearly  established  by  inductive  processes  of 
reasoning  than  is  the  principle  of  immortality. 

Having  established  this  proposition,  it  remains  only  to  con¬ 
sider  Christ’s  doctrine  of  future  rewards  and  punishments. 
Obviously,  this  is  a  more  difficult  question  to  handle,  for 
the  reason  that  there  are  necessarily  few  facts  known  to 
mankind  which  can  be  considered  scientifically  demonstra¬ 
tive  of  any  proposition  which  has  been  made  by  any  one 
on  that  subject.  Nevertheless,  if  there  is  one  known  fact 
which  confirms  his  declarations  on  that  question,  and  at  the 
same  time  satisfies  the  demands  of  human  reason  and  the 
common  sense  of  Divine  Justice,  we  may  safely  conclude  that 
the  Christian  religion  rests  upon  a  purely  scientific  basis. 

The  first  important  fact  which  confronts  us  in  consider¬ 
ing  this  branch  of  the  subject  is,  that  Jesus  said  very  little 
on  the  subject.  It  was  obviously  impossible  for  him  to 
convey  to  the  human  mind  any  adequate  knowledge  or 
idea  of  the  actual  conditions  of  a  spiritual  existence.  He 
was  hedged  about  by  the  limitations  of  human  speech  and 
the  finite  understanding  of  his  followers.  His  descriptions, 
therefore,  of  the  places  of  future  rewards  and  punishments 
were  necessarily  limited  to  material  conceptions.  He  could 
effectively  employ  no  other  symbolism  than  that  with  which 
his  hearers  were  familiar  and  which  they  could  appreciate. 
He  had  taught  them  in  plain  and  unmistakable  terms  the 
conditions  upon  which  the  soul  could  attain  a  conscious 
existence ;  and  having  done  that,  his  mission  was  thence¬ 
forth  a  moral  one.  Having  taught  them  how  to  attain 
eternal  life,  he  taught  them  so  to  conduct  their  lives  in  this 
world  as  to  entitle  them  to  the  joys  of  that  life.  It  was  no 
part  of  his  mission  to  reconstruct  the  accepted  geography 
of  the  world  of  spirits,  for  it  could  only  add  confusion  to 
their  crude  conceptions.  His  parables  were  drawn  from 
the  objects  and  incidents  of  their  every-day  life,  and  were 
necessarily  limited  in  their  application  to  a  spiritual  exist¬ 
ence.  His  only  object  was  to  enforce  a  code  of  morals 
founded  upon  the  eternal  principles  of  right  and  justice, 
simple  m  terms,  and  adapted  to  their  comprehension,  but 


394  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


grand  in  its  simplicity,  and  adapted  to  the  varying  condn 
tions  of  human  society  for  all  time. 

The  question  now  is,  What  is  to  be  considered  the  doc¬ 
trine  of  future  rewards  and  punishments  to  be  gathered 
from  the  New  Testament?  It  is  clear  that  we  must  reject 
all  material  conceptions  of  both  heaven  and  hell.  It  fol¬ 
lows  that  the  punishment  must  be  a  moral  one,  since  there 
is  no  material  entity  to  be  dealt  with.  The  sense  of  justice 
inherent  in  all  mankind  would  seem  to  indicate  that  the 
punishment  shall  be  commensurate  with  the  offence.  It 
must  be  assumed,  therefore,  that  the  true  doctrine  is  ex¬ 
pressed  in  Romans  ii.  6,  where  it  is  said  that  God  will 
“  render  to  every  tnan  accordmg  to  his  deeds." 

This  satisfies  the  finite  sense  of  justice,  and  perfectly  ac¬ 
cords  with  the  highest  human  conceptions  of  the  character 
of  a  God  of  love,  mercy,  and  justice.  The  good  man  would 
ask  nothing  more,  the  bad  could  expect  nothing  less.  Rea¬ 
soning  from  analogy  would  lead  to  the  same  conclusion.  We 
know  from  daily  experience  that  every  violation  of  the  laws 
of  our  physical  nature  is  followed  inevitably  by  its  adequate 
punishment.  We  have  a  right  to  suppose,  therefore,  that 
every  violation  of  moral  and  spiritual  law  will  be  followed 
by  its  appropriate  penalty.  We  know,  indeed,  from  what 
we  have  seen  of  the  teachings  of  Christ,  that  spiritual 
penalties  follow  a  violation  of  spiritual  law.  In  other 
words,  the  law  of  suggestion  follows  the  soul  across  the 
boundaries  of  eternity.  Spiritual  death  is  the  inevitable 
result  of  spiritual  unbelief.  It  is  not  a  vindictive  punish¬ 
ment,  it  is  the  fundamental  law  of  spiritual  life.  Just  as 
the  spirit  quickens  the  flesh,  so  does  faith  quicken  the 
spirit. 

Again,  we  find  a  spiritual  penalty  following  a  violation  of 
spiritual  law  in  what  Christ  taught  regarding  the  sin  against 
the  Holy  Ghost.  Just  what  that  sin  consists  of,  never  has 
been  satisfactorily  defined.  We  are  told  that  it  is  a  sin  which 
cannot  be  forgiven.  It  must,  therefore,  consist  of  a  viola¬ 
tion  of  some  fundamental  law  of  the  soul’s  existence,  the 
penalty  for  which  is  inevitable  according  to  the  fixed  laws 


THE  MISSION  OF  CHRIST. 


395 


of  God.  It  cannot  be  a  moral  offence,  consisting  simply  in 
wrong-doing,  for  such  sins  can  be  atoned  for.  A  moral 
offence  so  gross  that  a  God  of  infinite  mercy  and  love  can¬ 
not  forgive  it,  and,  if  the  Scriptures  are  to  be  believed, 
does  not  stand  ready  to  forgive  it  when  proper  atonement 
is  made,  cannot  be  conceived.  Nor  has  it  been  mentioned 
in  Holy  Writ.  We  are  therefore  forced  to  the  conclusion 
that,  as  before  remarked,  the  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost 
must  consist  of  a  violation  of  the  fundamental  law  of  the 
soul’s  existence.  It  must,  therefore,  be  the  sin  of  unbelief, 
and  consist  of  a  blasphemous  denial  of  the  existence  of  the 
soul  and  its  Father,  God.  This  would  be  in  strict  accord¬ 
ance  with  the  fundamental  law  of  suggestion,  as  it  has  been 
scientifically  demonstrated  to  exist.  The  emphatic  and 
persistent  denial  of  the  soul’s  existence  must  eventually 
prove  to  be  a  suggestion  so  strong  as  to  overcome  its  in¬ 
stinctive  belief  in  its  own  existence,  and  thus  neutralize  its 
instinctive  desire  for  immortal  life.  It  would,  therefore, 
have  the  same  effect  as  unbelief  arising  from  a  want  of 
knowledge,  or  a  lack  of  the  intellectual  power  to  conceive 
the  idea  of  immortality.  The  soul,  in  either  case,  could  not 
have  a  consciousness  of  its  own  existence  or  individuality. 

It  may  be  asked.  What  becomes  of  the  soul  when 
deprived  of  a  conscious  existence  ?  Does  it  actually  die, 
disintegrate,  and  return  to  its  original  elements?  Is  it 
possible  that  a  human  soul,  created  by  God  and  endowed 
with  the  power  and  potency  of  immortal  life,  can  fail  of 
accomplishing  its  mission,  and  become  extinct?  Can  a 
segregated  portion  of  the  Divine  essence,  once  individual¬ 
ized,  ever  perish  or  lose  its  identity?  All  these  questions, 
and  more,  will  be  asked.  I  do  not  know.  Perhaps  it  is  re¬ 
incarnated.  I  do  not  know  anything  about  reincarnation. 
I  know  as  much  about  it,  however,  as  any  one  else  knows. 
I  mean  by  this  that  no  one  can  be  said  to  know  anything 
about  the  truth  of  any  proposition  that  has  not  underlying 
it  a  substratum  of  demonstrable  fact.  The  theory  of  rein¬ 
carnation  has  no  such  basis ;  and  I  shall  not,  therefore, 
indulge  in  speculation  on  the  subject  further  than  to  say 


396  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


that  it  is  possibly  true  that  reincarnation  is  the  process  of 
the  soul’s  evolution.  If  so,  reasoning  from  analogy,  I 
should  say  that  the  process  ceases  when  the  soul  reaches 
the  status  of  a  conscious  existence.  In  the  physical  world 
we  see  that  the  process  of  evolution  has  gone  forward  pro¬ 
gressively  from  the  lowest  form  of  animal  life  up  to  man. 
There  the  process  ceases.  All  further  progress  is  in  the 
line  of  improvement  in  the  human  race.  No  higher  type 
of  animal  life  is  developed,  and  in  our  pride  of  manhood  we 
believe  that  there  never  can  be  any  higher  animal  existence. 
It  may,  therefore,  be  true  that  the  progress  of  a  soul  is 
through  reincarnation  from  the  lower  animal  life  to  the 
higher,  until  it  reaches  the  human ;  and  that  it  may  still  go 
on  in  the  lower  grades  of  human  organisms  until  it  reaches 
the  dignity  of  a  conscious  human  soul.  Having  reached 
that  point,  the  law  of  progress  will  expend  its  force  in  car¬ 
rying  it  forward  to  its  ultimate  destiny.  Considered  as  the 
process  of  the  soul’s  evolution,  the  necessity  for  further  re¬ 
incarnation  apparently  no  longer  exists  after  the  soul  has 
attained  the  power  and  potency  of  a  conscious,  self-existent 
entity. 

I  throw  out  this  suggestion  for  the  benefit  of  those  spirit¬ 
istic  mediums  and  other  trance-seers  who  have  found  out 
so  much  more  than  Jesus  knew  about  the  internal  economy 
of  the  spiritual  world  and  the  laws  which  pertain  to  spiritual 
existence.  But  this  is  a  digression  into  the  forbidden  field 
of  speculation  without  facts. 

The  common  experience  of  mankind  demonstrates  the 
proposition  that  appropriate  physical  penalties  are  the 
necessary  result  of  a  violation  of  physical  laws ;  and  it  has 
been  shown  from  the  teachings  of  Jesus,  confirmed  by  the 
inductions  of  science,  that  the  violation  of  the  laws  of  spir¬ 
itual  existence  is  followed  by  inevitable  spiritual  penalties. 
It  now  remains  to  be  considered  what  facts  are  known  to 
science  which  will  confirm  the  doctrine  that  moral  punish¬ 
ment  will  follow  the  infraction  of  moral  laws,  in  exact  ac¬ 
cordance  “  with  the  deeds  done  in  the  body.”  In  order  to 
do  so  intelligently,  we  must  first  briefly  consider  the  question 


THE  MISSION  OF  CHRIST. 


397 


as  to  what  the  nature  of  the  punishments  and  rewards  m.ust 
be.  It  being  manifestly  impossible  for  us  to  know,  affir¬ 
matively,  the  particular  modes  of  spiritual  existence,  we 
can  arrive  at  a  conclusion  only  by  the  method  of  exclusion. 
We  must,  therefore,  begin  by  excluding  all  idea  of  material 
penalties  or  rewards.  All  such  conceptions  of  spiritual  life 
must  be  relegated  to  the  dark  ages  of  human  intelligence, 
when  man  was  able  to  conceive  of  no  joy  apart  from  physi¬ 
cal  pleasure,  and  no  punishment  other  than  physical  suffer¬ 
ing.  Our  conceptions  must,  therefore,  be  limited  by  what 
we  know  of  the  nature  and  attributes  of  the  soul,  as  exhib¬ 
ited  through  phenomena.  The  first  question,  then,  is. 
What  do  we  know  of  the  attributes  of  the  soul? 

We  know,  first,  that  it  is  the  seat  of  the  emotions.  It  is 
therefore  capable  of  being  rewarded  or  punished  through 
the  natural  affections. 

Secondly,  we  know  that  it  possesses  the  inherent  power 
of  perception  of  the  laws  of  nature  and  of  God,  including 
the  eternal.  God-ordained  principles  of  right  and  wrong. 
It  will,  therefore,  after  its  release  from  the  body,  be  able  to 
estimate  the  value  of  every  good  deed,  and  realize  the  in¬ 
herent  infamy  of  every  wrong  one,  as  weighed  in  the  scales 
of  Eternal  Justice. 

Thirdly  and  lastly,  we  know  of  one  attribute  and  power 
of  the  human  soul  more  pregnant  with  weal  or  woe,  with 
joy  or  sorrow,  than  all  the  others  combined ;  and  that  is  its 
perfect  memory. 

These  are  the  essential  things  that  we  know  of  the  soul 
from  the  observation  of  phenomena.  Our  conceptions 
of  it,  therefore,  are  limited  to  its  intellectual,  moral,  and 
emotional  attributes.  We  know  it  only  as  an  intellectual 
entity,  and  our  conceptions  of  the  rewards  and  punish¬ 
ments  adequate  to  the  ends  of  Divine  Justice  must  be 
limited  accordingly. 

Little  need  be  said  in  explanation  of  the  trend  of  this 
brief  summary.  The  conclusions  are  obvious.  We  have 
before  us  an  intellectual  entity  capable  of  experiencing  all 
the  natural  emotions  of  humanity,  of  joy  and  sorrow,  of 


398  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


love  and  friendship ;  endowed  with  a  perfect  perception 
of  the  principles  of  right  and  wrong,  and  consequently  in 
possession  of  an  awakened  conscience  more  keenly  alive 
and  active  than  the  objective  mind  can  conceive,  and  pos¬ 
sessing  a  memory  so  perfect  that  every  good  and  every  bad 
deed  of  its  whole  earthly  existence  is  constantly  before  it 
like  a  vast  panorama.  What  greater  reward  could  such  a 
being  ask  or  experience  than  would  be  found  in  the  con¬ 
templation  of  a  well-spent  life?  What  greater  punishment 
than  the  remorse  of  conscience  arising  from  the  ever-per- 
sistent  memory  of  a  life  of  wickedness  and  crime? 

It  is  obvious  that  both  rewards  and  punishments  are  ade¬ 
quate  and  exact,  and  that  God  will  “  render  to  every  man 
according  to  his  deeds,”  by  and  through  the  operation  of 
his  immutable,  unchanging  laws. 

I  have  now  summarized  enough  of  the  leading  points  in 
the  history  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  and  of  his  doctrines,  and 
compared  them  with  known  phenomena  with  sufficient  par¬ 
ticularity  to  show  that  the  inductions  of  modern  science 
demonstrate  the  essential  truth  of  the  history  of  his  physical 
manifestations,  and  to  prove,  as  far  as  inductive  reasoning 
from  known  phenomena  can  prove  anything  not  physically 
demonstrable,  the  truth  of  every  essential  doctrine  of  his 
spiritual  philosophy.  I  have  by  no  means  exhausted  the 
subject,  for  the  New  Testament  is  full  of  passages  confirma¬ 
tory  of  the  view  I  have  taken.  It  is  true  that  I  have  inter¬ 
preted  the  passages  relating  to  the  conditions  precedent  to 
the  attainment  of  immortal  life  in  a  way  in  which  they  have 
never  before  been  interpreted  ;  but  in  doing  so  I  have  har¬ 
monized  that  which  has  heretofore  seemed  incongruous,  and 
have  thus  removed  a  stumbling-block  from  the  pathway  of 
scepticism.  I  have  no  fear  that  even  prejudice  will  find 
fault  with  my  interpretation ;  for  it  not  only  leaves  the  es¬ 
sential  doctrines  relating  to  rewards  and  punishments  uncon¬ 
tradicted,  but  it  affords  strong  confirmation  of  their  essential 
truth.  Moreover,  my  interpretation  is  confirmed  by  the  facts 
of  modern  science,  and  must,  therefore,  shed  a  new  lustre 
upon  the  name  and  attributes  of  Jesus,  demonstrating,  as 


THE  MISSION  OF  CHRIST,  399 

it  does,  the  accuracy  of  his  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  the 
soul. 

It  has  been  but  a  few  years  since  the  researches  of  sci¬ 
ence  began  to  furnish  facts  confirmatory  of  the  history  and 
doctrines  of  Christ ;  but  it  has  come  to  pass  that  every  new 
fact  discovered,  and  every  new  principle  evolved,  weakens 
the  foundation  of  every  other  religious  superstructure,  and 
adds  strength  and  harmony  of  proportions  to  that  erected 
by  the  man  of  Nazareth. 

It  may,  therefore,  be  now  confidently  asserted  that  Chris¬ 
tianity  possesses  that  to  which  no  other  system  of  religion 
can  lay  a  valid  claim ;  namely,  a  sound  scientific  basis. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

DEDUCTIONS  FROM  VARIOUS  ATTRIBUTES  OF  THE  SOUL. 


The  Question  of  Identity.  —  Consciousness  and  Memory.  —  Identity 
considered  in  Reference  to  Rewards  and  Punishments.  —  Con¬ 
science.  —  Conflicting  Theories  of  Psychologists. — Education  and 
Intuition.  —  Different  Standards  of  Morality.  —  The  Soul’s  Per¬ 
ception  of  the  Eternal  Principles  of  Right  and  Wrong. — The  In¬ 
stinct  of  Worship. —  Its  Abnormal  Manifestations.  —  The  Law  of 
Suggestion.  —  Universality  of  the  Sentiment  of  Worship.  —  Its 
Normal  Manifestations.  —  Demonstrative  of  the  Existence  of  a 
God  of  Love.  —  Old  Arguments  invalid.  —  Socrates  and  Paley. — 
Argument  predicated  on  the  Affectional  Emotions.  —  Syllogistic 
Deductions.  —  The  Divine  Pedigree  of  Man. 

IT  has  often  been  said  that  no  proposition  is  worthy  of 
belief  that  is  not  verified  by  phenomena.  Whilst  I  do 
not  commit  myself  to  a  maxim  so  broad  in  its  terms,  I  have 
thus  far  religiously  refrained  from  advancing  an  idea  that  is 
not  so  verified.  In  other  words,  the  primary  object  of  this 
book  is  to  interpret  phenomena,  and  not  to  advance  new 
ideas,  except  those  which  are  thrust  upon  me  as  necessary 
deductions  from  the  terms  of  my  hypothesis.  Sincerely 
believing  that  the  fundamental  propositions  of  that  hypothe¬ 
sis  are  true,  I  have  not  hesitated  to  follow  them  into  what¬ 
ever  field  they  might  lead,  and  to  accept  every  legitimate 
conclusion.  In  pursuance  of  such  deductions  I  have  been 
led  reluctantly  to  the  conclusion  that  none  of  the  phenomena 
commonly  attributed  to  supermundane  agencies  afford  tangi- 
'ble  evidence  of  the  continued  existence  of  the  soul  after  the 


DEDUCTIONS  FROM  ATTRIBUTES  OF  THE  SOUL.  401 

death  of  the  body.  I  have,  however,  been  more  than  com¬ 
pensated  by  the  discovery,  in  pursuance  of  the  same  hy¬ 
pothesis,  that  in  the  inherent  powers  and  attributes  of  the 
soul  is  to  be  found  indubitable  evidence  of  its  immortality. 
This  evidence  is  based  on  phenomena  which  have  been, 
and  may  be,  produced  by  experiment.  Many  of  these  phe¬ 
nomena  have  been  already  pointed  out,  but  others  remain 
to  be  considered  which  have  an  important  bearing  upon 
the  question  under  immediate  consideration ;  namely,  the 
immortality  of  the  soul,  and  its  relations  to  the  Supreme 
Being. 

There  are  still  other  attributes  and  powers  of  the  soul 
which  have  been  considered,  from  which  further  conclu¬ 
sions  may  be  drawn  which  may  assist  us  in  forming  correct 
conclusions  regarding  its  status  in  a  future  life.  The  first 
of  these  attributes  which  I  purpose  briefly  to  discuss  is  that 
of  memory,  and  its  relations  to  the  question  of  spirit 
identity. 

The  question  as  to  whether  the  soul  of  man  retains  its 
identity  after  the  death  of  the  body,  is  second  only  in  interest 
and  importance  to  the  question  of  immortality.  There  are 
many  who  hold  that  the  soul  is  necessarily  reabsorbed  into 
the  Divine  essence,  and  finds  its  compensation  for  the  ills 
of  earthly  life  in  becoming  an  integral  part  of  God,  and,  as 
such,  a  participator  in  his  power  and  glory.  This  presup¬ 
poses  a  loss  of  identity,  and  to  most  minds  would  be  con¬ 
sidered  equivalent  to  annihilation ;  by  others  it  is  regarded 
as  the  highest  conception  of  eternal  felicity.  Thus  far  no 
one,  as  far  as  I  am  aware,  has  attempted  to  offer  any  scien¬ 
tific  reasons  for  believing  one  way  or  the  other.  It  seems 
to  me  that  there  is  abundant  evidence  in  phenomena  ob¬ 
servable  in  this  life  to  demonstrate,  as  far  as  such  a  propo¬ 
sition  is  demonstrable,  that  the  soul  does  retain  its  identity 
in  a  more  pronounced  degree,  if  possible,  than  we  can  retain 
it  in  this  objective  existence.  In  what  does  identity  consist, 
or,  more  properly  speaking,  how  is  it  retained  ?  The  answer 
is,  through  our  consciousness  and  memory.  It  is  obvious 
that  if  either  is  lost,  identity  is  lost.  It  is  equally  obvious 

26 


402  THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA. 


that  if  both  are  retained,  identity  is  retained.  Now,  the 
phenomena  alluded  to  which  bear  upon  the  question  relate 
to  the  perfect  memory  of  the  subjective  mind,  or  soul.  This 
faculty  of  subjective  memory  is  implanted  in  the  human  soul 
for  some  purpose.  It  certainly  does  not  pertain  to  this  life, 
for,  as  we  have  seen,  it  is  only  under  abnormal  conditions 
that  the  phenomenon  is  observable.  It  must,  therefore,  be 
a  part  of  the  Divine  economy  pertaining  to  the  future  exist¬ 
ence  of  the  soul.  It  has  no  use  here,  for  objective  recol¬ 
lection  is  all-sufficient  for  objective  existence  and  purposes. 
The  conclusion  is  irresistible  that  it  is  for  the  purpose, 
amongst  other  things,  of  enabling  the  soul  to  retain  its 
identity.  Its  bearing  upon  the  question  of  future  rewards 
and  punishments  has  already  been  commented  upon  ;  nev¬ 
ertheless,  at  the  risk  of  repetition,  a  further  remark  will  be 
ventured.  It  is  obvious  that  if  the  soul  did  not  retain  a 
conscious  memory  of  its  earthly  life,  no  adequate  or  just 
reward  or  punishment  could  be  meted  out  to  it.  Even 
human  justice  would  revolt  against,  and  human  laws  would 
prevent,  the  infliction  of  the  penalty  for  a  capital  crime,  if 
it  were  clearly  proved  that  the  criminal  had  so  far  lost  his 
mind  as  to  have  no  recollection  of  the  events  of  his  past 
life,  or,  in  other  words,  had  lost  conscious  identity.  Besides, 
it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  soul  is  the  seat  of  the 
emotions,  as  well  as  the  storehouse  of  memory.  It  is  ob¬ 
vious  that  it  is  only  through  the  emotions  and  the  memory 
that  rewards  can  be  conferred,  or  punishments  inflicted, 
upon  the  immaterial  soul. 

Another  question  which  has  been  incidentally  alluded  to 
deserves  a  more  extended  notice,  for  the  reason  that  it  bears 
directly  upon  the  question  of  future  rewards  and  punish¬ 
ments,  and  is  also  illustrative  of  the  general  hypothesis 
under  consideration  ;  it  is  the  question  of  conscience. 
Metaphysicians  are  divided  in  opinion  on  this  question,  one 
school  holding  that  conscience  is  innate  and  instinctive,  and 
the  other  that  it  is  the  result  of  experience  and  education. 
My  hypothesis  leads  to  the  conclusion  that  each  school  is 
partly  right  and  partly  wrong.  Granted  that  the  eternal 


DEDUCTIONS  FROM  ATTRIBUTES  OF  THE  SOUL.  403 

principles  of  right  and  wrong  are  a  part  of  the  fixed  and 
immutable  laws  of  God,  it  follows  that  the  soul  of  man  will, 
under  favorable  conditions,  have  a  clear  perception  of  those 
laws.  Those  conditions  may  or  may  not  be  present  during 
the  life  of  the  body.  They  certainly  will  be  present  when 
the  soul  is  freed  from  the  clogs  of  the  flesh,  and  is  able  to 
perceive  all  the  fixed  laws  of  nature.  In  the  mean  time, 
while  it  is  an  inhabitant  of  the  body  it  is  amenable  to  con¬ 
trol  by  the  power  of  objective  suggestion,  and  hence  is  de¬ 
pendent  upon  the  objective  education  of  the  individual  for 
its  standard  of  right  and  wrong.  This  standard  may  be  high 
or  low  in  any  individual  case.  There  will  be  one  stand¬ 
ard  in  one  community,  and  another  in  another,  all  depend¬ 
ing  upon  education  and  social  environment ;  but  in  each 
case  the  subjective  mind  will  follow  the  suggestions  im¬ 
parted  to  it  by  objective  education.  If  the  standard  is 
high  in  any  individual  case,  the  sentiment  will  gradually 
become  instinctive,  so  that  the  subjective  impulses  and 
emotions  will  play  an  important  part.  If  the  standard  is 
low,  the  instinctive  emotions  will  only  be  conspicuous  for 
their  absence. 

Man  stands  in  his  relation  to  the  principles  of  right  and 
wrong  in  just  the  same  position  that  he  occupies  in  his  rela¬ 
tion  to  the  laws  of  electricity  or  any  other  natural  law.  He 
is  struggling  to  ascertain  the  laws  in  each  case  for  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  placing  himself  in  harmony  with  them.  His  knowl¬ 
edge  is  of  slow  growth,  but  each  century  finds  the  general 
standard  of  right  and  wrong  higher  than  it  was  the  century 
before.  If  the  soul  possessed,  in  the  normal  condition  of 
man,  an  instinctive  knowledge  of  those  laws,  he  would  not 
have  to  await  the  slow  process  of  evolution  to  develop 
them. 

History  records  the  name  of  but  one  man  in  whom  the 
eternal  principles  of  right  and  wrong  were  instinctive.  That 
man  was  Jesus  Christ.  He  perceived  those  laws,  as  he  per¬ 
ceived  all  spiritual  laws,  while  yet  in  the  flesh.  We  may 
profit  by  his  example  and  his  precepts,  but  otherwise  we 
must  work  out  our  own  salvation,  knowing  that,  when  the 


404  the  law  of  psychic  phenomena. 


soul  reaches  its  final  home,  it  will  be  in  possession  of  the 
eternal  standard  by  which  to  measure  the  guilt  or  innocence 
of  every  deed  done  in  the  body. 

The  only  remaining  psychic  phenomena  which  I  propose 
to  discuss  are  those  connected  with  that  emotion  of  the  hu¬ 
man  soul  which  finds  its  expression  in  the  worship  of  the 
Supreme  Being.  This  feeling  is  so  widespread  that  no 
system  of  philosophy  is  complete  that  does  not  take  it  into 
account.  Like  every  other  emotion,  it  has  its  normal 
mode  of  expression,  and  its  abnormal  manifestations.  The 
difference  between  the  two  modes  of  expression  is  so  great 
that  their  identity  of  origin  has  been,  to  a  great  extent, 
lost  sight  of. 

The  abnormal  manifestation  of  this  emotion  now  occurs 
principally  among  the  uncultivated  classes  of  religious  wor¬ 
shippers,  and  the  feeling  has  been  somewhat  contemptuously 
designated  as  “  emotional  religion.”  It  is  conspicuous  in 
the  revival  meetings  of  certain  religious  sects,  where  in  for¬ 
mer  years  its  manifestations  were  so  violent  and  unseemly 
that  it  was  looked  upon  as  reprehensible ;  but  these  exhibi¬ 
tions  have  been,  of  late  years,  generally  repressed,  except 
among  the  lower  orders  of  the  people.  Scientists  have 
tried  to  account  for  it  on  the  ground  that  it  is  the  result 
of  mesmeric  power  consciously  or  unconsciously  exerted 
by  the  preachers  over  their  congregations,  resulting  in 
an  ecstatic  emotion  wholly  abnormal  and  entirely  uncon¬ 
nected  with  true  religion.  The  fact  that  it  sometimes  re¬ 
sults  in  a  cataleptic  condition,  and  sometimes  in  a  trance 
undistinguishable  from  that  produced  by  hypnotic  pro¬ 
cesses,  lent  color  to  the  theory,  and  has  gradually  brought 
the  educated  classes  to  regard  the  feeling  of  religious 
emotion  with  distrust.  The  result  is  that  what  used  to 
be  known  as  “  vital  religion  ”  is  gradually  becoming  a 
thing  of  the  past,  and  is  giving  place  to  a  cold,  self- 
contained,  unemotional  sentiment,  which  is  as  unlike  true 
religious  worship  as  the  other,  and  as  abnormal. 

It  is  true  that  the  abnormal  manifestations  of  the  emotion 
are  governed  by  the  same  laws,  and  are  produced  by  the 


DEDUCTIONS  FROM  ATTRIBUTES  OF  THE  SOUL.  405 

same  causes,  as  other  subjective  phenomena.  Suggestion 
plays  its  part  in  these  as  in  other  things  pertaining  to  the 
attributes  of  the  soul ;  and  in  these,  as  in  all  others,  a  wrong, 
extravagant,  or  misdirected  suggestion  produces  abnormal 
results.  But  this  does  not  argue  that  the  emotion  is  ab¬ 
normal.  There  is  no  emotion  of  the  human  soul  that  has 
not  its  abnormal  manifestations  when  not  directed  and  con¬ 
trolled  by  reason.  The  common  experience  of  every-day 
life  demonstrates  this  proposition.  One  of  the  most  sacred 
and  praiseworthy  of  all  the  human  emotions  is  that  of  love 
between  the  sexes.  But  the  fact  that  our  jails  are  filled 
with  those  who  have  indulged  in  its  abnormal  manifesta¬ 
tions  does  not  argue  that  the  institution  of  marriage  is 
abnormal. 

The  sentiment  of  worship  is  as  widespread  as  the  senti¬ 
ment  of  love  ;  and  that  very  fact  shows  that  it  must  be  taken 
into  account  in  the  diagnosis  of  the  human  entity,  if  we  would 
arrive  at  correct  conclusions.  That  this  sentiment  is  uni¬ 
versal,  and  is  repressed  only  by  an  effort  of  will,  no  one  will 
deny.  It  is  its  abnormal  manifestations  merely  that  are  to 
be  guarded  against.  Like  every  other  emotion  of  the  soul, 
its  normal  indulgence  is  in  the  highest  degree  healthful  and 
exalting.  The  normal  expression  of  the  emotion  of  earthly 
love  brings  us  into  harmonious  relations  with  our  fellow- 
beings.  The  normal  expression  of  the  emotion  of  worship 
brings  the  soul  into  harmonious  relations  with  its  Creator. 
Every  form  and  act  of  worship  is  an  expression  of  this  emo¬ 
tion.  It  is  experienced  by  all  races  of  the  human  family, 
from  the  fetich  worshipper  to  the  Christian.  Each  stands 
in  awe  and  reverence  before  some  superior  power,  external 
to  himself,  and  capable  of  controlling  his  destiny.  In  pro¬ 
portion  to  his  intelligence  will  his  conceptions  of  that  power 
be  exalted ;  and  in  proportion  to  the  exaltation  of  his 
conceptions  will  be  the  intensity  of  his  emotions  of  awe, 
reverence,  love,  worship. 

The  conclusions  which  necessarily  follow  are  of  the  most 
important  character.  The  first  and  most  important  —  for  it 
includes  all  the  rest  —  is  that  the  fact  of  the  existence  of 


4o6  the  law  of  psychic  phenomena. 

the  emotion  of  worship  is  demonstrative  of  the  existence 
of  a  Supreme  Being. 

And  right  here  I  wish  to  make  an  important  distinction. 
The  standard  theological  argument  in  favor  of  the  immor¬ 
tality  of  the  soul  is  based  upon  the  following  syllogism  : 

1.  There  is  a  universal  desire  for  immortality. 

2.  The  mind  of  man  cannot  conceive  an  object  of  desire 
the  means  for  the  attainment  of  which  are  not  somewhere  in 
existence. 

Conclusion  :  Man  is  necessarily  immortal. 

Now,  if  these  premises  were  demonstrably  correct,  we 
might  safely  rely  upon  the  conclusion.  But  they  are  not 
correct.  The  first  may  be  assumed  to  be  practically  true, 
for  the  sake  of  the  argument ;  but  the  desire  for  continued 
life  beyond  the  grave  may  be  explained  upon  other  grounds, 
namely,  upon  the  instinctive  desire  to  prolong  life.  This 
nstinct  is  shared  with  man  by  all  the  animal  creation,  and 
pertains,  primarily,  to  the  preservation  of  animal  existence. 
Man  soon  learns  that  continued  animal  existence  is  impos¬ 
sible.  He  sees  that  all  must  die ;  but,  as  “  hope  springs 
eternal  in  the  human  breast,”  he  conceives  the  hope 
that  he  may,  somehow,  live  after  the  death  of  the  body. 
The  existence  of  the  desire  for  immortality  is,  therefore, 
traceable  directly  to  the  purely  animal  instinct  of  self- 
preservation. 

The  second  premise  is  intrinsically  absurd.  It  is  obvious 
that  the  brain  of  man  may  conceive  of  many  objects  of 
desire  which  are  manifestly  impossible  of  realization,  as  well 
as  non-existent.  In  the  Christian  mythology  of  Milton  the 
idea  is  developed  of  a  rival  power  —  Satan  —  in  heaven 
almost,  but  not  quite,  equal  to  God.  In  the  struggle  which 
ensued  from  a  rebellion  of  Satan  he  was  cast  out,  and 
set  up  a  kingdom  of  his  own  on  this  earth.  Now,  a 
strictly  orthodox  person  might  say  that  this  was  merely 
an  allegorical  representation  of  an  existent  fact.  But 
suppose  the  poet  had  gone  a  step  further,  and  had 
represented  Satan  as  going  outside  the  universe  and 
setting  up  a  rival  universe  of  his  own.  Would  that 


DEDUCTIONS  FROM  ATTRIBUTES  OF  THE  SOUL.  407 


conception  have  proved  that  an  outside  universe  is  pos¬ 
sible  or  existent  ?  ^ 

Again,  the  existence  of  a  Supreme  Being  is  thought  to 
have  been  demonstrated  by  the  argument  of  Socrates  where¬ 
in  he  confuted  Aristodemus  the  atheist,  and  used  the  stat¬ 
ues  of  Polycletus  and  the  pictures  of  Zeuxis  to  illustrate 
the  idea  that,  as  the  structure  of  the  universe  shows  evi¬ 
dence  of  design,  therefore  there  must  have  been  a  designer. 
Theology  has  never  improved  upon  this  argument,  and 
Paley  makes  the  same  use  of  the  watch  for  an  illustration  as 
Socrates  did  of  the  statues  and  pictures.  It  is  a  strong 
argument,  but  it  does  not  reach  the  point  which  the 
human  heart  desires  to  have  demonstrated.  Nor  does  it 
add  force  to,  but  rather  weakens,  the  argument  which  is 
found  by  all  reflecting  minds  in  every  tree,  leaf,  bud,  or 
flower.  It  simply  proves  the  existence  of  a  force,  which 
all  admit. 

What  the  human  heart  desires,  and  what  the  human  mind 
seeks,  are  proofs  of  the  existence  of  a  God,  not  of  mere 
intelligence  and  potentiality,  but  such  a  God  as  Jesus  char¬ 
acterized,  —  a  God  of  love  and  benevolence,  a  God  who 
sustains  the  relation  of  Father  to  all  humanity. 

It  seems  to  me  that  in  seeking  within  the  realm  of  human 
desire  for  an  argument  in  proof  either  of  immortality  or  the 
existence  of  a  Supreme  Being,  theologians  have  failed  to 
make  a  necessary  distinction  between  desires  which  may  or 
may  not  be  universal  and  inherent,  and  desires  which  have 
their  source  in  the  affectional  emotions.  It  is  upon  the 
latter  only  that  an  argument  can  be  logically  predicated. 

1  One  of  the  most  eminent  and  fair-minded  theologians  in  the 
United  States,  who  has  kindly  read  the  manuscript  of  this  work  and 
indulgently  criticised  its  contents,  suggests  that  I  have  not  treated  the 
standard  theological  argument  quite  fairly,  in  that  I  should  have  stated 
the  second  proposition  less  broadly  •  that  the  desire  referred  to  is 
instinctive  desire,  and  should  have  been  so  limited.  I  freely  admit 
that  as  careful  and  candid  a  reasoner  as  he  would  naturally  so  limit 
the  statement  of  the  proposition.  But  not  all  theologians  arc  as  can¬ 
did  and  logical.  However,  I  provisionally  accept  his  limitation,  and 
re])ly  that  the  answer  to  the  amended  second  proposition  is  embraced 
in  the  answer  to  the  first. 


4o8  the  law  of  psychic  phenomena. 

And  I  may  go  further,  and  say  that  an  argument  logically 
predicated  upon  the  affectional  emotions,  is  demonstrative. 
It  is  true  that  some  of  the  emotions  of  the  soul  seem  to 
pertain  exclusively  to  this  life ;  but  not  all.  The  emotion 
of  religious  worship  pertains  solely  to  that  invisible  power 
which  we  call  God.  Nevertheless,  we  may  employ  the 
others  for  illustration.  Let  us  see  how  this  doctrine  applies 
to  the  subject  under  consideration.  Putting  it  in  syllogistic 
form,  we  have  the  following  :  — 

1.  The  affectional  emotions  are  universal  attributes  of 
every  normally  developed  human  mind. 

2.  No  affectional  emotion  can  have  an  existence  in  the 
normally  developed  human  mind  in  the  absence  of  an 
object  of  affection  capable  of  reciprocal  feeling. 

Therefore,  when  a  normally  developed  human  being  ex¬ 
periences  the  emotion  of  love  or  affection,  there  is  neces¬ 
sarily  existent  an  object  of  love  or  affection  normally  capable 
of  reciprocal  emotion. 

Thus,  the  emotion  of  friendship  presupposes  the  friendly 
relation  existing  between  man  and  his  fellow-man. 

The  emotion  of  sexual  love  presupposes  the  sexual  rela¬ 
tion  and  the  existence  of  persons  of  the  opposite  sex  nor¬ 
mally  capable  of  reciprocal  emotion. 

The  emotion  of  parental  love  presupposes  the  relation 
of  parent  and  child,  each  normally  capable  of  reciprocal 
attachment. 

It  follows  that  the  emotion  of  religious  worship  presup¬ 
poses  the  existence  of  an  object  of  worship  capable  of  recipro¬ 
cal  efnotion. 

If  this  is  not  the  correct  interpretation  of  the  universal 
sentiment  of  worship  which  is  inherent  in  the  breast  of 
every  normal  human  being,  then  there  is  an  exception  to 
the  laws  which  govern  every  other  human  emotion.  As 
there  are  no  exceptions  in  the  operation  of  nature’s  laws, 
the  conclusion  is  inevitable,  not  only  that  the  emotion  of 
religious  worship  is  normal,  but  that  it  is  the  one  phenom¬ 
enal  attribute  of  the  soul  which  gives  to  man  indubitable 
evidence  of  his  Divine  origin,  and  demonstrates  the  exist- 


DEDUCTIONS  FROM  ATTRIBUTES  OF  THE  SOUL.  409 

ence  of  a  God  of  love.  It  is  the  connecting  link  between 
man  and  his  Creator.  It  is  the  instinctive  manifestation  of 
filial  affection  which  proclaims  our  Divine  pedigree,  and 
demonstrates  the  universal  brotherhood  of  man  and  the 
Fatherhood  of  God. 

“  Thou  hast  made  us  for  Thyself,  and  our  hearts  are  restless 
till  they  rest  ip  Thee.” 


THE  END. 


The  Divine  Pedigree  of  Man^ 


OR  THE  TESTIMONY  OF 
EVOLUTION  AND  PSYCHOLOGY 
TO  THE  FATHERHOOD  OF  GOD 


By  THOMSON  JAY  HUDSON,  LL.D. 

AUTHOR  OF  “THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA,”  Etc. 


12mo.  379  pages.  $1.50. 


Dr.  Hudson’s  new  book  presents  an  original  interpretation 
of  the  facts  which  have  been  accumulated  by  the  labors  of 
evolutionists,  Haeckel,  Darwin,  Spencer,  and  the  rest ;  and, 
in  an  argument  founded  on  a  demonstration  of  the  fact  that 
the  God-like  powers  of  man  exist  potentially  in  the  lowest 
forms  of  life  known  to  us,  strengthens  the  belief  in  Christian 
Theism  and  deals  a  formidable  blow  to  the  position  assumed 
by  atheists.  Dr.  Hudson’s  conception  of  evolution  is  worked 
out  with  the  same  avoidance  of  vague  theory,  and  the  same 
adherence  to  a  basis  of  well-authenticated  facts  and  to  cogent 
and  logical  reasoning,  which  characterize  his  former  works. 
It  will  prove  a  helpful  and  interesting  work  to  every  thoughtful 
man  and  woman. 

Dr.  Hudson  has  an  interesting  style,  a  method  at  once  deliberate  and 
energetic,  and  his  instances  are  well  chosen  and  effective.  He  has  avoided,  in 
tills  book  at  least,  one  of  tlie  pitfalls  of  writers  on  psychology,  a  redundancy 
of  illustration.  .  .  .  The  argument  is  a  strong  one,  strongly  presented,  and 
there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  it  will  be  well  received  by  the  thousands  of 
readers  who  are  deeply  interested  in  this  vital  subject.  —  The  Pioneer  Press, 
St.  Paul. 

Dr.  Hudson’s  line  of  argument  is  strikingly  original  and  remarkable  for  its 
logic  and  strength.  He  makes  out  a  case  that  cannot  fail  to  impress  the 
reader  who  follows  him. —  The  Detroit  Free  Press. 


For  sale  hy  booksellers  generally,  or  will  be  sent,  post¬ 
paid,  on  receipt  of  the  price,  by  the  publishers, 


A.  C.  McCLURG  6r  CO.,  Chicago 


A  Scientific  Demonstration 


of  the  Future  Life. 

By  THOMSON  JAY  HUDSON,  LL.D. 

AUTHOR  OF  “THE  LAW  OF  PSYCHIC  PHENOMENA” 


l2mo.  326  pages.  $1.50. 


One  of  the  most  interesting  works  of  the  season  is  “A  Scientific  Demon¬ 
stration  of  the  Future  Life.”  The  entire  subject  is  treated  in  a  firmly  scien¬ 
tific  manner ;  nothing  of  theory  or  vague  arguing  is  admitted  ;  and  there  is  no 
doubt  that  the  book  will  be  as  widely  read  and  discussed  as  was  its  predecessor, 
“  The  Law  of  Psychic  Phenomena.”  —  Chicago  Daily  News. 

The  success  that  “The  Law  of  Psychic  Phenomena”  met  with  induced 
the  author  to  prepare  and  publish  the  present  volume,  “for  the  purpose  of 
carrying  to  their  legitimate  conclusions  some  of  the  principles  laid  down  ”  in 
his  former  one.  Dr.  Hudson,  in  pursuing  his  inquiry,  has  endeavored  to 
follow  the  strictest  rules  of  scientific  induction,  taking  nothing  for  granted 
that  is  not  axiomatic,  and  holding  that  there  is  nothing  worthy  of  belief  that 
is  not  sustained  by  a  solid  basis  of  well-authenticated  facts.  —  The  New  York 
Times. 

This  latest  work  is  written  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  to  their  legitimate 
conclusions  some  of  the  principles  laid  down  in  “  The  Law  of  Psychic  Phe¬ 
nomena.”  The  book  is  a  masterly  effort  of  convincing  argument,  and  may  be 
read  with  profit  by  scientist  and  scholar.  —  The  Evening  Wisconsin. 


For  sale  by  booksellers  generally,  or  will  be  sent,  post¬ 
paid,  on  receipt  of  the  price,  p  i  .50,  by  the  publishers. 


A.  C.  McCLURG  Sr  CO.,  CHICAGO. 


A  ^wonderfully  useful  book  for  busy  people/* 


NATIONAL  EPICS. 

By  KATE  MILNER  RABB. 

12mo,  398  pages,  $1.50. 


Mrs.  Rabb’s  treatment  of  each  epic  consists  of  (i)  A  descriptive  sketch  of  the 
poem;  (2)  An  outline  of  the  historical  narrative  embraced  in  it;  (3)  Selections,  each  of 
which  narrates  a  complete  incident;  (4)  A  short  bibliography  of  each  poem;  (5)  A  list 
of  standard  English  translations  of  the  foreign  epics.  The  last  two  of  these  items 
make  the  book  valuable  as  a  work  of  reference.  The  author  has  performed  her  heavy 
task  with  such  diligence  and  literary  ability  as  will  certainly  win  much  credit  to  herself, 
and  be  the  means  of  edifying  and  entertaining  many  a  grateful  reader. 

This  is  an  excellent  guide  to  a  knowledge  and  appreciation  of  the  world’s  great 
epic  poems.  The  Hindu,  Greek,  Roman,  Finnish,  Saxon,  German,  French,  Spanish, 
Italian,  Portuguese,  English,  and  Persian  epics  of  distinctively  national  importance 
are  all  represented. . . .  The  compiler  has  performed  a  useful  service  in  making  accessi¬ 
ble  in  the  compass  of  a  single  volume  so  much  material  for  the  study  of  these  noble 
poems. —  The  Review  of  Reviews^  New  York. 

The  book  is  distinguished  by  unusual  merit.  The  volume  may  be  heartily  com¬ 
mended  as  a  scholarly  and  satisfactory  piece  of  work,  admirably  arranged,  and  pre¬ 
senting  some  features  which  set  it  apart  from  similar  condensations.  —  Public  Ledgery 
Philadelphia. 

Kate  Milner  Rabb  has  done  a  good  turn  for  busy  people  and  for  those  whose 
literary  inclinations  are  not  strong  enough  to  sustain  a  desire  to  read  the  epics  which 
are  the  basis  of  literature. —  The  Evening-  Wisconsin. 

Mrs,  Rabb  succeeds  admirably  in  summarizing  the  stories  of  the  epics.  She  has 
endeavored  to  retain  the  characteristic  epithets  of  the  originals  as  much  as  possible, 
and  to  reflect  in  her  diction  their  essential  spirit.  It  is  sufficient  proof  of  her  success 
that  her  brief  prose  paraphrases  remind  one  at  times  of  the  so-called  “  Poems  of 
Ossian.”  —  New  York  Commercial  Advertiser. 

The  idea  is  an  admirable  one,  and  is  well  carried  out.  These  short  stories  cannot 
fail  to  awaken  a  curiosity  which  will  only  be  satisfied  with  a  larger  study  of  the  great 
epics  of  the  world.  —  The  A  dvance, 

A  wonderfully  useful  book  for  busy  people.  —  St.  Paul  Pioneer  Press. 

The  wonder  is  that  it  was  not  done  long  ago.  —  Chicago  Trihine. 


For  sale  by  booksellers  generally,  or  will  be  sent,  posF 
paid,  on  receipt  of  the  price,  by  the  publishers, 

A.  C.  McCLURG  &-  CO.,  CHICAGO 


iJ'ats  Due 


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